SON plans to fast-track industrialisation through metrology

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has set plans in motion to fast-track Nigeria’s industrialisation through metrology, which means science of measurement.

With proper measurement, it will be difficult to produce substandard products at local factories or allow same to get to unsuspecting consumers. Similarly, proper measurement and standardisation prevent import of fake or substandard goods into the country, a phenomenon common with Asians, especially the Chinese.

Metrology also ensures that hospitals and clinics do not use un-calibrated equipment that will decimate Nigerians. In the aviation sector, SON’s metrology will ensure aircraft meet standard specifications before flying. In the oil and gas sector characterised by corruption and theft, metrology will help to determine the number of crude oil sold and how much is actually made from sales.

SON plans to apply metrology on all aspects of Nigerians’ lives through its ongoing construction of the National Metrology Institute/Laboratory, Enugu.

Joseph Odumodu, director-general, SON, said “Nigeria needs to create a robust infrastructure that will guarantee conformity assessment and end the practice of continuous payment of salaries of foreigners,” as the establishment of the metrology institute will help to boost the country’s export base by providing the required confidence and reliability in the export goods market.

“Metrology is key to achieving 30 percent Gross Domestic Product for the manufacturing sector,” Odumodu said, during the 2015 World Metrology Day held in Lagos last Wednesday.

“If Nigeria is interested in giving manufacturing 30 percent; if we want to diversify and fight corruption; if we want to identify the number of barrels of oil we sell in a day, we must identify with metrology,” he said, adding that human health and safety will depend on how well the country can adapt metrology.

In the international trade sector, absence of local weights and measures has continued to make other countries turn down products coming from Nigeria.

“Without metrology, we cannot export; we cannot compete and our economy will remain in a shambles,” said Joseph Sikuade, director, Weights and Measures, SON.

“We have killed ourselves in hospitals owing to absence of metrology. Nigerians must learn that anything they cannot measure, they cannot manage,” Sikuade said.

Experts say there cannot be quality without issues such as control, calibration, accredited laboratories, traceability, standards and metrology.

“We believe that a national measurement for metrology is the first step in facilitating trade in any economy,” said Shaukat Malik of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation.

According to Malik, SON and UNIDO have started the implementation of the National Quality Infrastructure(NQI) for Nigeria, sponsored by the European Union.

The project, worth €12 million, is aimed at supporting the improvement of standards and quality of Nigerian products.

“We recognise that the increasing importance of metrology within globalised markets puts more emphasis on the link between costs and quality, quantity and trade,” he said.

ODINAKA ANUDU