…Lauds CAMAN for donating vehicle for enforcement activities

Enyeribe Ejiogu

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria has assured members of the Cable Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (CAMAN) that it would deploy its ardent enforcement efforts and the prosecutorial powers bestowed on it under the SON Act (as amended), in the onerous task of combatting the influx of substandard, fake and adulterated cables and wires circulating in the country.

Director General of SON, Osita Anthony Aboloma, gave the assurance when he received in audience a delegation of the executives of CAMAN, led by the President, Ifeanyi Uzodike, who is also the chief executive of Cutix Plc. Aboloma was represented by the Director of Enforcement Unit of SON, Bede Obayi, an engineer.

The leadership of CAMAN visited the SON DG to formally present a brand new Toyota Hilux Van donated to the regulatory agency, to support the enforcement activities of the organization against the rapidly growing influx of substandard cables and wires being imported into the country by unscrupulous elements with the active connivance of fifth columnists in some other federal government agencies at the imports and land borders.

In his remarks, Uzodike drew the attention of the DG to the concerns of CAMAN members over the perceived delay of SON to destroy the substandard cables impounded by the agency in two warehouses in Ajangbadi area of Lagos metropolis in June 2017. He said that members of the group were also disturbed that efforts towards prosecution of the alleged culprits had not reasonably progressed to the point of arraignment of the firm and its officials in court. He urged Aboloma to allay the fears of the group over the matter.

His words: “We are eager to know how far SON has gone with respect to the case involving the cables impounded by the organization. Many of our members are concerned that the cables have not yet been destroyed. We are under the impression that SON has been empowered by law to impound and prosecute. We would feel more comfortable when SON does this and prosecutes the culprit.”

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Buttressing Uzodike’s comments, chief executive of Coleman Wires and Cables, George Onafowokan, said: “For us as an association what is paramount is to see how the indigenous cable manufacturing industry would survive. We want to commend the SON for its efforts to combat the importation of substandard cables. We are particularly happy with what SON did when it impounded a warehouse filled with substandard cables, which we were taken to see in July 2017. As we said during that visit, it is needful for CAMAN to support SON in the discharge of its mandate to protect Nigeria from the menace of substandard cables and wires being dumped in the country’s market.

“For us as an association, we want to see that the pride that Nigerians have in Made-in-Nigeria cables is sustained. We believe that working in partnership with the SON, we can guarantee that the influx of substandard cables, adulteration of cables, faking and relabeling of cables produced by indigenous manufacturers are all stopped or extensively reduced. We are proud that regulation of the local industry by SON has brought the standard of our cables to the peak at which we are now. We are proud that the message is going out that our people should buy Made-in-Nigeria cables.”

Speaking through Obayi, his representative at the occasion, Aboloma, while appreciating the gesture of CAMAN in donating the vehicle lauded the association for partnering with SON. “I want to formally thank you for this initiative which is in the spirit of public-private partnership which the present administration has seen as a pillar of development. We believe that government cannot do it alone. Rather it is with the collaboration of relevant stakeholders that we can achieve the needed sanity in the system that would enable our local industries to achieve the desired increase in capacity utilization, which would in turn produce the needed economic growth in the country.

“So your declaration to partner with SON to reduce to the barest minimum, the level of fake and substandard products in circulation in the Nigerian market is very laudable and worthwhile. We are not in any way doubtful of your intentions because of all the sectoral groups in the federation regulated by SON, it is only the cable manufacturers that SON can vouch for what they are doing to maintain the quality of their products. We are proud to be associated with members of CAMAN.

“We are happy to receive this donation of a van to aid our efforts to enforce the provisions of the SON Act. Even though this not enough given the landmass of Nigeria and the far flung areas the organization needs to cover, it will facilitate the plans we have. Further, I want assure you that the owners of the products impounded in the two warehouses in Ajangbadi, which are filled with substandard cables will be prosecuted. As you know, we must follow due process in the matter of prosecuting the case in court, there are procedural steps to be followed in doing this and we going through that process.

which involves getting legal advice from the office of the Attorney General. I want to further assure you that not one inch of cable has left the warehouse sealed by us. We have police personnel at the facility, who are changed daily. So the whole consignment is still intact as we showed to you when we took your executives to the place. I want you to understand that under the SON Act 2014, we now prosecutorial powers and no one can joke with us anymore. We are not only ready to bark but our have teeth have been sharpened also to bite people who break the law pertaining standards. “To help yourselves and make our work easier, it is very necessary that your members to open new distribution outlets close to the people and discourage the tendency of unscrupulous elements to fake good, high quality products that are not easily available.”

Uzodike urged SON to advise the group on what it needs to do in collaboration with the regulatory agency to clean up the open markets which the chief executive of Cometstar Manufacturing Company Limited, James Uduji in his brief remarks noted are “highly polluted and filled with substandard cables and wires,” adding that SON should critically re-examine and closely monitor its staff posted to enforcement offices located in the open markets to prevent them from being compromised by the importers and distributors of the poor quality cables imported into the country.