The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), have entered into partnership to tackle the menace of fake and substandard products products in the country.
The Director-General, SON, Farouk Salim, at a sensitisation programme in Lagos, warned that it would no longer be business as usual for dealers of fake and sub-standard products in the country.
The sensitisation programme was themed, “The Use of Crime Record Information Management System as a tool to fight the influx of fake/sub-standard products and other related crimes in Nigeria.”
Salim, represented by the Director, Inspectorate and Compliance, SON, Dr Omolara Okunola, said the partnership would greatly check the high incidence of financially-related crimes, especially the influx of counterfeit products into Nigeria.
He said: “Our core mandate is to ensure that products and services locally made or imported into Nigeria meet standards and quality benchmarks in line with global best practices.
“You know, before you can do anything either in production or services, you need to gather the necessary data.
“And that is why this intervention by NFIU comes in handy for us to do documentation, intelligence reports in order to detect and track dubious importers and fraudsters.
“The collaboration would go a long way to unmask the hidden hands backing importation of substandard goods into the country. This would in turn help check the menace of fake products across the country.”
…this intervention by NFIU comes in handy for us to do documentation, intelligence reports in order to detect and track dubious importers and fraudsters.
Information sharing
Also commenting, the Chief Executive Officer, NFIU, Modibbo Hammah-Tukur, said the influx of fake and sub-standard products into Nigeria would be controlled through effective collaborative efforts and information sharing among the relevant government agencies.
He said NFIU is the central body responsible for receiving, requesting, analysing and disseminating financial intelligence reports on money laundering, terrorist financing and other relevant information in Nigeria.
Hammah-Tukur, represented by the Senior Intelligence Analyst, NFIU, Dr Bello Abdulhaziz, said the collaboration would help SON to flag suspicious products at the borders for further investigation.
“We are poised to collaborate with all stakeholders in analysing and providing credible and actionable information to put an end to influx of substandard products,” he said.
The sensitisation programme is expected to be conducted in other major cities such as Abuja, Kano and Port-Harcourt for the relevant SON staff.
