The federal government says it would continue to support the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and other relevant agencies in their bid to check importation of substandard products, especially in the construction industry.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Richard Adeniyi Adebayo, said this during a meeting with the management of SON in his office in Abuja.
The minister noted that such products had been attributed to frequent cases of building collapse particularly in the urban areas of the country.
Adebayo assured that the ministry would support the SON to minimize substandard products in the country.
He noted that ongoing efforts of SON to rid Nigerian market of fake and substandard products required more support from the federal government.
He said that Nigeria with its strategic economic location in Africa coupled with its large trade and investment potential naturally opens it to the influx of various products.
He, however, urged the SON management to take the anti- corruption message of the current administration to its personnel as they discharge their regulatory mandate.
He said government would continue to ensure domestic and industrial safety of all Nigerians through standardization of products.
Earlier, the Director General of SON, Mr Osita Aboloma, called on the Minister to ensure that personnel of the organization return to the nation’s seaports.
Aboloma said that 80 per cent of goods and products entering the country come in through the seaports.
He said the call became urgent in view of the African Continental Free Trade Area ( AfCFTA) agreement that was recently sogned by Nigerian.
