The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer (DG/CEO) of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mallam Farouk Salim has disclosed that the country was too big for the organisation to have less than 5,000 staff.
Salim ,represented by Mr Usman Mohammed, SON Director, South-South Region, made the disclosure yesterday in Calabar during a one-day stakeholders’ workshop Organised by the Agency.
The workshop with the theme : “SON: Partner In Progressive For Business Boom Via Standardisation”, had in attendance manufacturers from Cross River, including Lafarge, Flour Mill (Niger Mills), MAN (Manufacturers Association of Nigeria), Calabar Chambers of Commerce, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Cross River State Government and several others.
Speaking shortly with journalists after the event , the DG/CEO of SON said Cross River like every other state has short fall of staff adding that the organisation needs approval from the government to employ more personnel.
“Nigeria is very big and even though we have offices in almost all the states, we don’t have enough manpower.
“In the whole country, we have less than 5,000 staff, which is a far cry from what we actually need.
He further pleaded with the government to allow SON back to the seaports and entry points to properly check substandard products.
“One of the major issues is that most of these substandard goods come in either through the port or the border and the Government in its own wisdom some years back decided to take SON out of the seaports end entry points.
