SON Commissions New Lab Infrastructure in North East, targets SMEs Growth

The Standards Organization of Nigeria, (SON), has declared that the strategic decision made to establish the laboratory in Bauchi State and in some states and the FCT, Abuja, was deliberately designed to meet the needs of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME’s)  as major drivers for the economic development of our country, the need to improve the turnaround time for the delivery of  the laboratory services, as well as protecting the integrity of the agency testing systems.

The Standards Organization of Nigeria, (SON), has said that the new laboratory and office complex which it has commissioned in Bauchi State was deliberately designed to meet the needs of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME’s) which are major drivers for the economic development of our country.

The Agency pointed out that the construction of the facility is therefore part of the holistic plan of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria to reduce cost of business for MSME’s in the North East, thereby contributing to the Federal Government policy of ease of doing business.

The Director General, (DG), of the SON, Mallam Farouk Salim, who made this known while speaking at the commissioning of the North East Regional Office and Laboratory Complex, highlighted that “the choice of Bauchi for the North East Regional Office was quite simple and straightforward. The state is well known for the excellent disposition of its people who are great entrepreneurs in diverse aspects of commerce and industry. But, more importantly, Bauchi was the first state in the North East to offer us land large enough for our purpose. Indeed, our application for this land was treated with utmost dispatch.”

Salim stated that the North East Regional Office and Laboratory Complex, comprises laboratories on the ground floor and 18 offices on the first and second floor in addition to a large conference room.

The offices, he said, would house the North East Regional Office of the Organisation as well as our Bauchi State Office.

The DG SON said that the laboratories are in Food Chemistry and Engineering adding, “The Food Chemistry laboratory would focus on food related products including the very popular Bauchi ” “Masa and Danbun Nama”, while the Engineering laboratory is dedicated for products in the built industry serving both large entity such as Lafarge Cement Company in nearby Gombe State and thousands of block moulders in this State and across the North East.”

According to him, “testing is a critical component of conformity assessment programme of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, which in turn is one of the pillars of our national quality infrastructure,

“Let me at this point assure your Excellencies, distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen of our resolve to secure accreditation for the laboratories in this complex before the end of my tenure. The accreditation would ensure global acceptance of the test reports from this facility in accordance with the principle of’ tested once accepted globally

“Apart from testing services, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria has other services that should be patronised by entities in Bauchi State, particularly the State Government,” he added.

Continuing, he said  “I would like to advise certification to the various International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) Management Systems Standards. The certification would assure persons you deal with that your processes and procedures are managed in accordance with the requirements of the applicable standards. International bodies and your development partners would have confidence in engaging with Bauchi State knowing that you manage your processes according to the standard they themselves are certified to.”

The DG, also emphasized that Bauchi State, the host state has a huge land mass representing about 5.3 per cent of Nigeria’s land mass. One senatorial zone in this State is much bigger than most States in the South East.

“It is therefore, not difficult to imagine the huge challenge facing SON in carrying out its mandate in this massive state. The only operational vehicle we have, cannot effectively carry our staff to the industries we need to cover in all the twenty Local Government Areas of the State. In this regard, I wish to request the kind intervention of His Excellency in amelioration of this problem” he emphasized.