The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) wants electrical dealers in the country to buy and sell made-in-Nigeria cables, which have better quality than imported ones.
Addressing the newly elected executive members of Electrical Dealers Association of Nigeria (EDAN) at Alaba International Market, Osita Aboloma, director-general of SON, challenged the traders to embrace self- regulation as part of the fight against the dangers posed by substandard products to the country.
Aboloma gave the challenge while receiving the executives in his office in Lagos. He said that since over 70 per cent of cables traded in Nigeria passed through the Alaba International Market, it is important for the traders to sell only quality cables and other electrical appliances to save the country. He said that doing this will de-market importers of substandard products.
He advised the executives to guide their members on the need to register all products with SON for traceability and confirmation of quality status in the overall interest the country and its citizens.
The SON DG said all electrical cables coming into the country must have the SON certificate of assessment programme known as SONCAP while locally manufactured must have MANCAP certification which was Manufacturers Assessment Programme for standard quality and traceability.
He pledged to support businesses in all possible ways to make them thrive and add their quota in the development of the economy.
Also speaking, Bede Obayi, SON director of compliance, who is also an engineer, charged the electrical dealers to consciously work at developing a positive reputation for Alaba International Market.
He warned that Nigerians were becoming better informed by the day as many other outlets were providing healthy competition to the Alaba International Market on cables and other electrical appliances.
Richard Adewumi, SON head of electrical laboratory, advised EDAN members to pay greater attention to issues such as ratings, labels and product manuals in order to be in a better position to guide their customers rightly.
Earlier, Fabian Ezeorjika, president of EDAN, commended the SON DG for the renewed fight against substandard products in the Nigerian market and pledged the commitment of his executive to SON in that regard.
So far, N20 billion has been invested in Nigeria’s cable industry, with Coleman Technical Industries pumping half of the funds into the sub-sector.
The value of output in Nigeria’s electrical and electronic sector stood at N4.39 billion in the first half of 2016 as against N6.36 billion in the corresponding period of 2015.
Close to N13.53 billion worth of output came from this group in the second half of 2015, data from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) show.
ODINAKA ANUDU
