The Standard Organisation of Nigeria, SON, has not done enough to promote the culture of standards amongst producers in the country. This observation was made on Wednesday by the managing director of Public Finance and Management Consulting Group, Mr. Paul Erihri at a national workshop on sources of foreign finance organisation by his company.
According to Erihri the Standard Organisation of Nigeria has neither the expertise or manpower to effectively police and monitor the standard of goods produced in the country. As a result the low quality of most goods produced in the country. They do not meet international standards and thus cannot be sold in European markets that are highly sensitive to market changes, such as prices, standards. European markets he stressed are highly discriminatory against low quality goods.
Mr. Erihri said that it is as a result of the low quality of goods produced in Nigeria that make them not acceptable in European market as against the hitherto held believe that the European markets deliberately shut their door against goods produced in Nigeria.
According to him, most Nigerian exporters do not understand the international enough before going into the export trade. Most Nigerian exporters he continued have not the expertise to enter into them competitive export market. According to Erihri, Nigeria has not actually benefitted from international trade because apart from oil, cocoa and other primary produce Nigeria has never produced for export.
Nigeria according to him, is an importing country where virtually everything used in the country is imported. He said that some goods produced in Nigeria are not even accepted in the Nigeria market because of their low quality not to talk of the international markets. He said that if Nigeria produced high quality good, such as good will be accepted in international market.
He lamented that up to this point, Nigeria has not packaging institute where producers for export market can train to package their products in internationally accepted form. The irony of the Nigeria situation is that those who ask Nigerians to buy made in Nigeria goods buy almost everything they use from foreign sources.
