SON DG, says Nigeria’s Greatness Lies in Support for Local Industries

The Director General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mallam Farouk Salim, has harped on the need to support industries if the country must attain its developmental targets.

Salim made this remark while speaking during a courtesy visit to the multi-million dollar Gujeni Integrated Iron Ore Mining and Processing Plant (GIIOMPP), in Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

He highlighted that Nigeria could only become great when “industries grow and people pay taxes as well as build communities.

He noted that a country doesn’t become great because they import everything or their children go overseas to make a living.

He disclosed that SON had over the past 50 years buttressed the fact that the country could only progress and earn the respect it deserves through “investment in our people, industries and natural resources”.

According to the SON boss, there are various natural resources spread across the country which require between $100 million and $500 million to turn around the fortunes of the host community and the country in general.

He applauded the African Natural Resources and Mines Limited (ANRML), owners of the steel factory which is expected to begin operations soon, for believing and investing in the future of the country.

He stated that the factory would not only satisfy Nigeria’s steel needs but also export to other countries, thus generating foreign exchange.

He announced that when in operation, the steel company will also provide over 10,000 direct employment opportunities to Nigerians as well as over 500,000 indirect jobs.

“This is the largest investment outside the oil sector and what that means is that based on what they are doing, very soon, they will not only produce what Nigeria needs – high quality products but they will export and when we export, we are saving money in two ways; we are saving money by earning money back into the country and we are saving money by stopping the idea of taking our hard earned resources to buy products and bring back into the country,” he emphasized.

He opined that investment in industries could help to solve the seemingly intractable security challenges in the country which had forced companies to shut down leading to job losses.

Earlier, Group Managing Director, African Industries Group (AIG), Mr. Alok Gupta, lauded SON for the role it played in making Nigeria globally competitive and also boosting customers’ confidence for certified products.

He revealed that AIG had decided to embark on Backward Integration by setting up the steel plant, adding that AIG is a diversified manufacturing group involved in production of various products including steel, chemicals, commodities, power generation and completed 50 years of operation last year.

He stated further that ANRML remained one of Nigeria’s largest non-oil FDI and would serve as catalyst for development of steel and manufacturing sector as a whole.

“We also expect this project to have lasting social and economic benefits by means of jobs, social infrastructure, skills development, contribution to GDP as well as save the country scarce foreign exchange through import substitution,” he stressed.