Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has cautioned Nigerians on the dangers of using fake products, saying the risks associated with such unwise patronage far outweigh the benefits, if any. It was in this light that SON said it was carrying out sensitisation programmes across the country to educate stakeholders on the dangers inherent in the process.

Director General of SON, Osita Aboloma, stated these yesterday in Aba, the commercial capital of Abia State during a general sensitisation workshop on substandard lubricants held in the city.  

Aboloma, represented by Obi David, SON Regional Coordinator in South East, said the regulatory body had before now carried out zero tolerance and total eradication sensitisation workshops for substandard products, but now decided to go for reduction in fake products all in a bid to achieve the same goal of bringing to extreme minimum the circulation of fake goods in the country.

“We’ve carried out zero tolerance for sub-standard goods, we’ve done total eradication and we are now speaking of reduction. There is no place in the world; there is no country that can boast of total eradication of substandard products. What we are saying now is that we want to reduce it to extreme minimum and if we can get that, it will be a very big achievement. We want to start from somewhere; if we can achieve reduction, it will be as good as eradication.”

Aboloma who said SON’s sensitisation programmes were not limited to oil but to other products, stressed that his organisation limited the Aba programme to lubricants because of its effect on the economy and the people.

“The use of lubricants touches on all vehicles, industrial machines of various types, hydraulic systems, electric transformers and other things. It is obvious that most of our daily activities depend directly or indirectly on use of lubricants and it is therefore necessary that every stakeholder be aware of good and substandard lubricants.”