By Job Osazuwa
Members of the Society of Testing Laboratory Analysts of Nigeria (SoTLAN) have called on governments and all stakeholders to inject more funds into the testing sector to address the ill-equipped analytical laboratories in Nigeria.
They made this known at a briefing in Lagos as part of activities to herald the body’s annual conference.
The president SoTLAN, Prof. Olugbenga Ogunmoyela, raised the alarm that many local analytical laboratories lacked capacity and were struggling in the face of infrastructural challenges, constantly rising costs of imported equipment and reagents and other testing materials.
He said the theme of the fourth conference, “Building Capacity for Global Competitiveness of Testing Laboratories,” was coming on the heels of concerns on the increased use of foreign laboratories for analysis of various food, pharma, medical devices, petroleum products as well as environmental samples due to perceived lack of capacity in the local laboratories.
“For a nation, which is in dire need of conserving its foreign exchange resources by looking inwards, the need for government and all stakeholders to empower local analytical laboratories by supporting this capacity development initiative is timely and crucial, if we are to make maximum benefit of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement.
“With fewer than 50 registered laboratories in Nigeria today, which have achieved international accreditation, the country cannot effectively maximize the opportunities in this sector in the certification of quality of our products as well as imports, for the growth of our economy,” he said.
At the event held in Lagos, there were laboratory fair and exhibition comprising sales of laboratory equipment and provision of various types of laboratory support services. There was also students’ debate featuring participants from various universities who discussed the topic “Testing Laboratories are Important in Improving the Quality of Life In Nigeria.”
Ogunmoyela added: “From the foregoing, it is clear that the society is determined to address, headlong the challenges that have continued to hold the country back on various local and international fronts, in terms of quality assurance traceable to analytical laboratories.
“Amongst these are infrastructural, technological, financial, regulatory and manpower development and training challenges. There is no doubt that each of these challenges is capital-intensive. Therefore, leaving a laboratory owner to face such challenges solely has been identified as a major factor responsible for the lack of growth and capacity development in our laboratories in the global context.
“The fact that Nigeria and other African countries suffer product rejects and humiliation in the international/world market is traceable to this singular factor.
“The quantum of money the nation loses annually to products rejects and capital flight by those organizations and individuals that outsource their product analysis outside the country runs into billions of dollars annually.
“This is a cheaper, faster, easier, and all-encompassing solution for the government to embrace. Nigeria can no longer afford to have its analytical laboratories ill-equipped in the face of the prevailing global and regional competitions especially with the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) which Nigeria Is a principal player.”