ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Malam Farouk Salim, the Director General, Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) has cautioned Nigerians against buying uncertified products, saying it would endanger their lives.
He gave the warning during SON’s Special Day at the ongoing 34th Enugu International Trade Fair on Thursday in Enugu.
Salim also advised Nigerians to check if any goods had been certified with the Mandatory Conformity Assessment Program (MANCAP) logo before purchasing them.
The SON DG explained that MANCAP means that the product has been inspected, sampled and subjected to laboratory analysis.
He added that the logo is for locally-manufactured products only as Standards Organization of Nigeria Off-Shore Conformity Assessment Programme is for imported products.
“With it, the quality of any product is assured and guaranteed,” he said.
Salim who was represented by the Director, South-East Regional Operations Directorate, SON, Engr. Fred Akingbesote added that the trade fair offered SON the opportunity to reach out to Nigerian and foreign manufacturers on the impact of the organization in assuring standardization.
He further assured Nigerians of the organization’s readiness to be a major player in assisting entrepreneurs in realization of their dreams.
The Director General noted that Micro- Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises play a significant role in growth and development of industrialization of the country.
His words: “We will keep encouraging and creating enabling environments for the sector to be part of standardization process to ensure that products emanating from them meet global standard.
“Our target is to grow their businesses by offering them our services to ensure standardization of the processes and products they bring into the market.”
He told manufacturer what they should do to make their products of quality and standard, and failures to comply to government regulations, SON may be forced to sanction their companies.
This standard, he said, includes services like standard testing, port/border import safety, training/technical advisory, metrology & instrumentation, and product certification, amongst others.