SON requires 10,000 staff to to fight substandard products – Acting DG

The Acting Director-General, Standards Organisation (SON), Mr Paul Angya, on Tuesday said the agency would need additional 10,000 staff to fight substandard products in the country.
Angya made the plea in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
He said that if more staff were employed, they would be able to go far places in the country to check substandard products.
“We have just 1,500 staff at hand and there is no how they can cover the market places in the country.
“It was recommended in 1993 by government officials that SON needed 10, 000 staff for its operations,’’ he said.
Angya said that many lives had been lost due to substandard products coming into the country, adding that the integrity of SON concerning the laboratory tests results had not been compromised.
He said that if importers were not satisfied with the organisation’s result, they were permitted to go for laboratory tests elsewhere.
Angya urged importers to stop giving bribe to staff, adding that if any staff forced them to pay, they should report to him.
He said that the Chinese Government was ready to come to Nigeria to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the standard of goods that would be coming to Nigeria from China.
Angya said that the collaboration between both countries would go a long way in boosting Nigeria’s image. (NAN)