From Anthony Nwachukwu, Lagos

Within the next three years, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria
(SON), along with the relevant stakeholders, will be developing 658
industrial standardisation projects in such areas as energy,
transportation, health, and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
(MSMEs), among others.

   The overall implication is that locally manufactured goods with the
agency’s seal can successfully compete globally, gain wider
acceptability and marketing edge, as well as generate foreign exchange
and jobs.
   Since their approval by the Standards Council of Nigeria in June
2020, 264 out of the 274 (96 per cent) of the projects for the first
year have already been achieved, according to the agency’s Director of
Standards Development, Mrs. Chinyere Egwuonwu.
   However, for the country to benefit immensely from this effort, the
business community must uptake the set standards, which are constantly
reviewed and updated in line with international standards in order to
remain relevant in the face of changing needs and new findings.
   This reality counters the douses the fears that Nigeria, competing
under the impending Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA),
would fare worse due to insufficient manufacturing and production
owing to poor industry environment, including unstable electricity
supply, which has seen manufacturers sustaining production on
alternative and expensive sources of energy, thereby spiking cost of
production.
   Though cost remains a challenge in continental competition for edge
in locally manufactured goods, recent recurring developments where SON
destroyed some imported goods worth hundreds of millions of naira have
shown that the agency is equal to the task of maintaining standards on
both in-bound and out-bound products.
   While such move discourages import of substandard products, SON has
been in the vanguard of also ensuring standards for locally
manufactured goods, especially export goods, to reduce the incidence
of rejection of such products overseas, loss of revenue for both
manufacturer and the country. If unchecked, such goods would reduce
further Nigeria’s chances under AfCFTA.
   To ensure that Nigerian products and produce meet the required
standards for export, SON operates well-equipped laboratories of
different capacities across the country, and also certifies products
that meet the mark.
   While Nigeria is unarguably the continent’s largest market by
population and territorial size, the same cannot be said of its
industrial capacity, which has continued to contract over the years,
with industries folding up, some manufacturers already relocated and
more still relocating to industry-friendly neighbouring countries.
   This challenge, among others, have been fueling concerns by
stakeholders that Nigeria will ultimately become a dumping ground for
products with the advent of AfCFTA, and further depletion of the
country’s capacity to generate employment for its teeming youth, as
well as foreign exchange from such trade.
   Nevertheless, the challenge of consumer protection from producers
and merchants of poor quality products/produce led to the recent
rising frequency of seizures of imported and export-bound substandard
goods.
   According to the SON Director-General, Mallam Farouk Salim, the
agency has a responsibility to ensure that manufacturers deliver
quality products that would meet international standard. With AfCFTA,
“if our manufacturers are not doing the right thing by producing
quality products, other countries will take over the market,” he
stated at a recent capacity building programme for journalists.
   “Therefore, SON has the responsibility to ensure that goods
produced here meet the required standards. Anybody who produces fake
or substandard products will face the punishment as prescribed by law,
because of the harmful effects of such goods on the people and the
society.”
   Similarly, SON is to ensure that “whatever comes into this country
won’t harm our people. We have the best electric cables and
lubricating oil, among many other products like that. Direct or
indirect breaking of rules will be taken to court for prosecution.”
   Armed with highly qualified professionals manning its various
laboratories and standardisation units across the federation, the
agency has called on state governments and corporate organisations to
partner it in helping Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) to
deliver quality products, with the implication including home-grown
jobs and a deepening economy.
   According to Salim, with over 40 million SMEs in the country, which
currently account for about 60 per cent employment, such synergy will
further reduce unemployment as more hands go into private ventures.
SON, on its part, will train and certify the SMEs’ products, as well
as teach the business owners branding and packing, among other indices
of product classification.
   More so, the agency has a Memorandum of Understanding with Katsina
State to groom SMEs on standards, and was working on partnership with
four others – Jigawa, Kano, Bauchi and Sokoto.
The focus is, “we go in, train small scale industries on how to
produce their goods cleanly, how to package and market them, because
if any of these aspects is not done right, the goods will not do
well.”
   He added, “One of the biggest problem we have in this country is
youth unemployment, both educated and uneducated. There are not enough
jobs in the federal government and in these various industries. So we
need to encourage small-scale producers for even the youths to be part
of the small scale industries and the country can be lifted,
unemployment will be minimal and we have less chaos.”
   In the pursuit of standards, Salim noted that SON has one of the
most sophisticated facilities in the country, and recently acquired
laboratories that were accredited in paint, electrical and food and
nutrition even as he assured that they would continue to build
capacities. And with the help of the federal government, they were
building new laboratories and new offices for their activities to
reach every part of the country.
   To enforce compliance, however, “we make sure there are
consequences for any substandard product and any person producing
substandard products. We are to ensure that manufactured goods, (like)
building materials are up to standard because collapsing buildings are
not discriminatory; whoever is in that building dies.
   “We are committed to improving our responsibility. Over the years,
we have collaborated with market associations and importers
associations, even though our responsibility is primarily to help our
local producers, but Nigeria has importers and they are legitimate
businessmen and are importing things needed in Nigeria.
   “So, our responsibility is to ensure that whatever comes to this
country is standard good, and not going to harm our people and our
local industry.
   “We have factories that are doing bad things. We went there
(recently) and made sure they put those bad products back into the
system and rebuild them, because we are not going there to make them
lose their business but to ensure they do what they are supposed to
do. So, we quietly put hundreds and hundreds of tonnes of materials
back and they have to recycle and produce the right thing.
   “We have able professionals working with us. In fact, I can say
this without sounding too proud that there are very few organisations
in Nigeria with a combination of highly intelligent and motivated
people like our organisation and I am very proud of that.”