There will be no hiding place for foreign nationals and their collaborators who plan to turn the country into a dumping ground for substandard products, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo has said.
Adebayo gave the warning at the commissioning of Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Ekiti State office and laboratory.
He stated that the amended SON Act of 2015 empowers the agency to arrest, confiscate and prosecute offenders, noting that SON is already pressing hard on violators and presently working with individuals ad well as groups to collectively improve the lives of Nigerians through standards, making the country stand tall in the comity of nations.
Adebayo affirmed that the Federal Government would build more laboratories to boost the testing of products and commended the SON Director-General, Mallam Farouk Salim, for the timely completion of the state office, as well as partnering with states on the development of micro, small and medium enterprises.
In his remarks, Salim noted that the new office signifies SON management’s resolve to bequeath a functional substructure as part of the National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) to every state. He explained that Few weeks after he took the mantle of leadership at SON, he was challenged with the level of infrastructural deficit which limited the organisation’s operations.
According to him, there were ongoing office building projects all around the country which had been embarked upon by the organisation and in his quest to address the situation upon assumption of office, he continued with the good works started by his predecessors despite the COVID-19 pandemic and paucity of funds, by completing SON office building projects under construction all over the country.
Commending the SON for its efforts, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State said that the new office will boost socio-economic development and increase trade and investment opportunities. He assured that the state will not compromise standards and will continue to support SON in its regulatory responsibility.
He further promised the Director-General of SON that the request for the rehabilitation of an access road to the regional office earlier made by him will be prioritized by his administration.
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