Posted by Sade Williams
The ongoing efforts by members of the Aviacargo Roadmap Committee set up by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to ensure designated agricultural produce for export meets international standards saw the committee took a tour of the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) Laboratory facilities to ascertain their quality on Tuesday in Lagos.
The visit is the first by the new FAAN Managing Director, Mr. Kabir Mohammed to agencies and facilities FAAN is collaborating with in promoting Nigeria produce to markets around the globe through the country’s airports.
Management of SON were elated at seeing the visiting delegation led by the FAAN helmsman and declared that SON is seeking partnership and collaboration with countries to help promote Nigeria’s products and the country’s certification efficiency.
Speaking during the tour, Mr. Richard Adewunmi, SON Director of Laboratory Services, said the partnership is quite important as the certification agency’s presence and activities needed to be well propagated in order to put Nigeria’s certified products in global pedestal.
According to him, ‘SON is internationally accredited, for instance, there’s a standard required for training and it’s the same globally but we need more partnership with other countries to enhance the marketability of our certified products’.
Speaking in the same vein, Coordinator of the Aviacargo committee, Mr. Ikechi Uko, said Nigeria has good products with necessary regulatory and certification agencies but lacks good branding and promotion.
Harping on collaboration, he said: Nigerian government has invested heavily in SON but its presence is not being felt in Nigeria. We need to propagate the activities and credibility of SON. Nigeria has the products but the branding is poor, there are markets that are just waiting for these products, we only need to identify them while Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with other countries will go a long way in promoting our goods and products’.
While educating Nigerians on the difference between registration and certification of products, Adewunmi said there’s no conflict between NAFDAC and SON, adding that registration is quite different from certification.
“This is to let Nigerians know that registration is different from certification. The only challenge we have is educating people on the activities of these agencies. Farmers, exporters and others need to know this, they need to also know about the process their products need to pass through to avoid being rejected in the country of destination. For instance, there are different packaging for different markets. Once people are armed with information, there will no conflict”, he said.
Also speaking, Engr. Timothy Abner, director of training services, SON, said tests are conducted at minimal cost at the agency, adding that the primary duty is to first protect Nigerians before profit.
“We have enjoyed the support of government, its doggedness has brought us this far. The laboratories are accredited and accepted globally, they are accredited by the Americans”, he said.
On his Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. Kabir Mohammed, while responding to the issue of adulterated aviation fuel, said SON is the only agency that has the expertise to test and certify Jet A1 and other petroleum products.
He said that though, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) is the regulatory agency charged with the duty of supervising the Petroleum Industry operation and Processing industry applications for leases, experts at SON have the requisite training for regulations of jet fuel.
Mohammed, who was a staff of SON said: “We told authorities that officials of SON needed to be at the point of the process of testing aviation fuel but they were kicked out. The DPR may not have the necessary experts, those who have the expertise have been kicked out,vwe had meetings with DPR but they blocked SON out of the regulations of Jet fuel”.
Laboratories visited within the SON facility include the Lightning testing lab, cement testing lab, cable testing lab, Generator, Refrigerator, meter, Battery Crude fiber, cosmetics and alcohol testing laboratories, among others.
