The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) plans to eradicate quacks involved in management system practice in the country.
The move, according to SON, is to put an end to unscrupulous individuals who shortchange companies and individuals, noting that, most of the practitioners in the system management practice are not competent and lacked the required competency to operate in the management system space.
The director general, SON, Mallam Farouk Salim, during a one day stakeholders’ engagement for the National Register for Conformity Assessment Practitioners (NRCAP) in Lagos, stated that, the stakeholders’ engagement forum is important to reiterate that conformity assessment practice is very central to the sustenance of commercial success and continuity in all sectors.
He pointed out that the role of management systems practitioners is vital to ensuring that practices carried out by the industries are in alignment with international best practice in terms of the expectations of existing conformity assessment standards.
He stated that the lack of regulations of the activities of practitioners over the years has negatively impacted the industry and country significantly which includes; poor protection of genuine practitioners from the negative impacts of unhealthy competition by quacks, poor visibility and recognition of genuine and competent practitioners capable of attracting patronage and partnerships for enhanced trade relationship and poor value for money for unsuspecting customers patronising quacks who deliver poor services.
Salim also stressed that the unavailability of an official register of competent practitioners to aid national planning and coordination of economic activities that border on standardisation and quality assurance are also challenges hindering professional management system practice in the nation.
The SON boss stated that the registration processes, including approved guidelines, expectations of benchmarking Conformity Assessment standards and interests while developing the documents were taken into considerations to ensure that the impartiality of the process is assured.
He stressed that the impartiality committee members to drive the process were drawn from critical sectors of the economy, such as; the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Federal Competition & Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), NACCIMA amongst others and adequately trained for the onerous task.
He added that the registration process will no doubt strengthen the mutual responsibility that SON and critical stakeholders share as partners in the task of nation building and position businesses for better visibility and recognition.
Also speaking, the first president of the Society for Management System Practitioners of Nigeria, Engr. Bode Oke, said the group would join hands with SON to prune quacks in the system in its bid to ensure that consumers get value for money spent.
He said, the roles of system practitioners are vital in business growth and development, maintaining that system practitioners are responsible for taking companies through quality management systems certification, environmental management system certification, occupational health and safety certification and food management system certification.
On her part, a consultant in the Quality Management System Practice, Patricia Solarin, said standardisation is germane for industrial development, saying, the stakeholders meeting would help to checkmate quacks.
