The Standards Organisation of Nigeria has granted the Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme certification to four companies in Gombe State, allowing them to produce Plaster of Paris and electric poles in line with approved standards.
The certified companies include Maja PoP, Habbos Nigeria Limited, NCCE Limited, and GAN Electrical and Technology Services Input Limited.
According to the PUNCH, the Gombe State Coordinator of SON, Mohammed Bukar, while speaking emphasized the importance of standardization in ensuring public safety and preventing substandard products from endangering lives.
“There are two PoP and electric pole companies. We certified them because of the life-endangering nature of their products,” Bukar said.
He noted that some of the companies had been working towards obtaining the certification for over seven years.
“You know whenever we test and the product fails, we have to start all over again. Standardisation is a journey. The standard determines the market share of the products. We started with factory inspection and surveillance inspection. It is important to buy certified products to ensure that there is no loss of lives from PoP collapse or electric poles carrying current,” he added.
Bukar urged consumers to check for the SON logo when purchasing these products to avoid counterfeits, which could lead to accidents and fatalities.
Addressing the certified companies, he stressed the need to maintain quality, warning that certification alone does not guarantee market success.
“This is the beginning of your journey because if those buying your products are not satisfied, no matter the standard you have, it is useless,” he said.
The SON official also highlighted the economic potential of the PoP industry in Nigeria, noting that the sector remains largely untapped.
“What we have at the moment is people bringing it from Turkey. We need our business owners to explore the PoP manufacturing sector. We have the raw materials here. They will comfortably compete. Nigeria is a blessed country,” he stated.
Bukar urged the companies to serve as ambassadors of quality, warning that any deviation from SON standards would render their certification invalid.
The certification is expected to boost consumer confidence and create wider market opportunities for the companies, contributing to both local industrial growth and Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product.
