By Bimbola Oyesola

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) is to partner the Medium and Small Enterprises (MSMEs) in a bid to make it a platform in the Federal Government’s job creation initiative.

Its Director General, Mr.  Osita Aboloma, made this submission during an interactive session with Freight Forwarders and Clearing Agents in Kano recently.

He hinged his passionate support for MSMEs on their potential to create jobs, reduce the crime rate and contribute to Nigeria’s economic development.

He stated that SON  invested in building the capacity of the MSMEs, improving their quality control mechanisms and raising the quality profile of their products for improved competitiveness locally as well as for export.

Aboloma condemned any practice that promotes job creation for foreign manufacturers at the expense of local industries, stressing that preference for foreign goods meant boosting the economy of other countries while Nigerian firms are shutting down.

He explained that Nigeria’s immense potential in human and material resources can be greatly optimised through deployment of standardisation procedures to ensure effective quality assurance of all locally manufactured products.

Related News

Aboloma described quality assurance as a critical element of the standardisation process for the growth of a nation.

He added that regular quality control, inspection, sampling, testing and certification of manufacturing processes ensure that products meet the requirements of relevant standards.

“They also guarantee continual improvement to satisfy customer expectations”,  he said.

The SON boss said the realisation of the importance of quality assurance had been a major driver of the Agency’s standardisation campaigns.

“As the apex standardization agency, it is the duty of SON to ensure that consumers get value for money and are protected from the dangers of substandard products; that is why I urge Nigerians to get involved in the campaign. We need the collaboration of all Nigerians to do the job effectively”, he said.

According to Aboloma, one of the current administration’s main agenda is promoting the ease of doing business in order to facilitate trade in addition to the Federal Government’s efforts to re-direct its focus to non-oil exports, with agriculture, micro, small and medium enterprises as key drivers.