The Federal Government has tasked the standards organisation of Nigeria SON to remain committed to ensuring quality of all products and services in the country so that the nation’s manufacturing sector would not be a pushover in the African Continental Free Trade Agreement AfCFTA scheme.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, who announced this in Lagos stated that the SON had vital role to play in facilitating trade and guaranteeing that excellence and quality standards is maintained in the face of AfCFTA.
Adebayo who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Evelyn Ngige, lauded SON for 50 remarkable years of valuable contribution to industrialisation.
The National president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria MAN Otunba Francis Meshioye said the role SON plays in the nation’s economy is very vital for the country’s economic diversification drive.
Meanwhile, the Director General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) Malam Farouk Salim has tasked captains of industry to invest substantially in brand protection activities to safeguard their intellectual property against counterfeiters, copyright pirates and producers of substandard products
The SON boss pledged that the standards body would also increase its level of campaigns and engagement with the public to fish out and prosecute peddlers of substandard goods in the nation.