Photo: R-L: The Enugu State deputy governor, Hon. Mrs. Cecilia Ezeilo; her Akwa Ibom State counterpart,Mr. Moses Ekpo; and the Kogi State deputy governor,Mr. Simon Achuba and his wife, Eunice during a courtesy call at Government House, Enugu.
The Enugu State government says it is committed to partner Standards Organization of Nigeria(SON) to improve and upgrade its strategies towards ensuring total elimination of sales and production of substandard and harmful goods in the nation’s markets.
Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State gave the firm promise while playing host to the acting director-general and Chief Executive of SON, Dr. Paul Angya, and other top officials of the organization that paid him a courtesy call at the government house, Enugu.
Governor Ugwuanyi observed that the introduction of conformity Assessment programme by SON, was an indication of improvement and had appreciably gone a long way to address some of the lingering concerns and worries of the people over unsafe products entering into the nation’s markets.
According to him, “Indeed, as a statutory body that is solely vested with the responsibility of standardizing and regulating the quality of all products in Nigeria, we have largely depended on the Standard Organization of Nigeria, to guarantee our safety and satisfaction in our use of both locally and imported goods.
Success in these areas will not only help to ensure the safety of Nigerians but will help encourage honest and patriotic local manufacturers more especially at this time when we are talking about the diversification of the national economy in the face of the adverse economic situation currently facing the country.
As a government, we pledge to continue to assist and partner with the Standards Organization of Nigeria, to ensure the effective and successful discharge of these very important assignments especially, as they concern Enugu State”, the governor said.
Addressing the governor, Dr. Angya, said that they were in Enugu to inform His Excellency about the management meeting of SON holding in the Coal City and also see the extent of work done at the National Meteorology Institute cited at Emene Industrial Layout Enugu, as part of the Federal Government’s effort towards establishment of National Measurement System in the country.
Dr. Angya explained that the National Measurement System which the proposed institute has put in place to coordinate is part of the national meteorology policy and plan that will serve the country and other West African Sub-region.
According to him, the institute when in place would ensure that local accredited testing and calibration laboratories would be measurable. This would save the nation the huge sum being paid to foreign NMIS to procure such services among others.
He commended Governor Ugwuanyi for assisting SON and providing dividends of democracy in the areas of roads, health care delivery, and education among others, to the good people of the state and enjoined him to assist the organization with access road leading to its permanent site in Emene Enugu.