The Director General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) Mallam Farouk Salim addressed a news conference at the weekend to mark the World Standards Day. He spoke on the prospects and challenges of running a regulatory agency with oversight functions for monitoring and setting standards in the country. Jill Okeke was there. Excerpts:
The theme of this year’s World Standard Day is ‘Standard for Sustainable Development Goals’ can you expatiate on this?
Yes, the 2022 edition of the World Standards Day, like others before it, comes with some measures of innovation and benefits, which would go a long way in impacting positively on world economies. The event with the theme, ‘Standards for Sustainable Development Goals’ aligns with the United Nations goals of enhancing economic growth in countries across the world in the next few decades. A lot of people hear standards but have no idea how it affects their lives. Every individual has to live with standards every day. It may be cultural standards, religious standards, physical or scientific standards and so on. Standards are the reason why we are human beings. When there is chaos it means standards have been compromised. Standards are the basics of our lives. Countries across the world including Nigeria, benefit a lot by ensuring sustainable economy as well as improved public awareness on safety and standards in our daily activities
What effort is SON making towards boosting the economy and sustaining it?
This year’s anniversary is going to be a landmark for Nigeria as we transit from an emerging to developed market in the future. SON is the apex regulatory agency established by the Federal Government with primary focus on standardisation.
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