By Chimezie Anaso
The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has assured continued protection of residents of Anambra from the activities of dealers in fake and substandard products.
Chinedu Agafie, Director, Anambra Regional Office, SON, gave the assurances during the 2024 Walk for Standard to celebrate 2024 World Standards Day in Anambra on Thursday.
The theme for the celebration is “Shared Vision for a Better World Spotlight on SDG9 with Emphasis on Industry Innovation in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Staff members of the SON and representatives of their partners walked the streets of Awka from popular Arroma junction to Eke Market in a road show, sharing flyers to raise awareness.
Agafie said the walk was to raise awareness among the public and stakeholders on the relevance of standards and the need to embrace the culture as a way of life.
“I want to assure you that Anambra residents are well protected under our regulatory operations.
“We have been involved in a series of sensitisation for marketers, manufacturers and industrialists on the need to embrace standard and avoid dealing in substandards,” he said..
Also speaking, Mr Emmanuel Hussain, SON Coordinator, Anambra Office 1, Awka, called on potential builders to always ensure they engaged competent contractors or engineers who would insist on building materials that are SON certified.
Hussain said it was incorrect to limit the cause of building collapse to substandard rods or building materials.
“There are a number of factors that can cause building collapse starting from the site itself to the engineers and the building materials.
“Where SON comes in is the area of building materials and we have been doing a lot to ensure that certified rods, cements and other materials find their way to the market.
On his part, Mr Micheal Ogbuji, SON Coordinator, Anambra Office 2, Nnewi said importers and manufacturers who were yet to regularise operations by subjecting their products to SON certification process should do so or have the law to contend with.
Ogbuji said SON had standard for spare parts and that it ensured that importers and manufacturers operated within the standards
“By doing so, we make sure that customers get value for their money and be assured that they are buying the right quality,” he said.
Some stakeholders who joined the walk commended SON for its effort at sanitising the production processes through standardisation.
Mr Onyechi Anene and Mr Raphael Tehila who represented Nodi Tissues and Coscharis Farms respectively said standardisation had improved the acceptability of their brands. (NAN)
