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Charles Nwaoguji
The Federal Government has issued the first ever Nigerian National Standardisation Strategy (NNSS) 2020 – 2022.
The Strategy was developed by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to identify priority areas to focus on, based on national needs assessment.
In addition, its Governing Council also approved 168 new standards for publication and dissemination to various sectors of the economy in furtherance of the Federal Government’s economic diversification policy.
This came to light after the agency’s virtual meeting, in Abuja chaired by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI), Dr. Nasir Sani-Gwarzo.
Sani-Gwarzo stated that the document is accompanied by a National Implementation Plan that gives orientation for national standardisation work within the three year duration.
The NNSS, according to him, has identified 658 standardisation projects in key priority areas classified by economic sectors as highlighted in Federal Government’s Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP), the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) and other related national strategic plans.
The SON Council Chairman described the establishment of the NNSS as an outstanding and epoch- making achievement of the Director General and his Management, for which the Council gave a unanimous commendation.
He also commended the SON Management for resolving all promotion arrears, conducting staff promotion exercises when due and the resolve to go ahead with the 2020 promotion exercise in spite of the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sani-Gwarzo conveyed the Council’s approval of the request for the conduct of the 2020 promotion exercise with innovative latitude to ensure compliance with the infection prevention and control measures put in place by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) not later than August 2020. Welcoming the Council members earlier, the SON Director General, Osita Aboloma, enumerated the organisation’s role and support in the Federal Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic as including leveraging on its international collaboration to make necessary and relevant international standards available to local manufacturers at no cost.
The organisation also waived charges relating to importation of essential materials while also fasttracking the process, he said.
Aboloma stated that SON has also been providing necessary technical quality assurance support to local manufacturers involved in the manufacture of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) required for the prevention and control of COVID-19 nationwide through its state offices.
Giving details of the document, the SON boss explained that 64 of the items are for electrical/electronic products; 53 for chemical technology; 47 for food and agricultural products; three for civil/building technology products as well as the reviewed standard for hotel and serviced accommodation management system and rating – requirements and guidance for use.
Aboloma added that some of the review include standards for fertilisers; review of existing and development of new standards for the tomato and cassava value chains; adoption of international standards on environmental testing; adoption of international recommendations for renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrification among many others.
He gave assurance that the approved standards would be published promptly while awareness programmes would be carried out with relevant sectoral stakeholders, to encourage voluntary uptake of the standards across industries.
Aboloma said that the newly approved 168 Nigerian Industrial Standards cut across various products and services and are of great economic, regulatory and industrial importance for Nigeria.
