By Felix Khanoba
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has been conferred with ‘Institution in the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria’ award by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
The award given during the Digital Nigeria Dinner 2022 Award Night, come on the heels of the recent ranking of SON as number one Government Agency in the Ease of Doing Business by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), being supervised by the Office of the Vice President.
A statement signed by Head of Public Relations, SON, Mrs. Foluso Bolaji, said the NITDA award was bagged under the category of institutions that enables Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria.
The AUTHORITY reports that SON has been in the forefront of facilitating businesses to thrive and grow in Nigeria by ensuring that all its processes are captured online to enable prospective clients, stakeholders and prospective partners / customers assess most services online without bottlenecks.
Further-more the micro, medium and small-scale enterprises (MSMEs) have also been nurtured by SON over the years through trainings and certification of their products especially those ready for export outside the shores of Nigeria.
The SON has also ensured maximum support to the MSMEs by drastically reducing the costs of standards by half to enable them effectively apply the requirements to whatever goods they produce or services they carry out.
Addressing the media after the awards, the Director General and Chief Executive of SON, Mallam Farouk Salim, said the core mandate of SON is to establish and enforce standards and quality so as to forestall influx of substandard products into the country, and also ensure that our industries stay afloat and sustain production from the standpoint of quality assurance.
Mallam Salim said the award was an attestation to the hard work and dedication put in by SON staff all across the country to ensure that industries are constantly inspected so that consumer end-products are beneficial to consumers who will drive demand by their use, and with demands, more production and the economy would thrive for the better.
He thanked the Honourable Minister of Communication Dr. Isa Pantami and Digital Economy and the Director General of NITDA for the recognition and honour.
Other categories of awards included Long Service Awards for Staff who have served the NITDA for 10 and 20 years, awards for Corporate Social Responsibility, Digital Compliant States and IT Start-ups.
