By Lucy Ogalue
The Chairman, National Quality Council (NQC), Mr Ostia Aboloma, says the Standards Partnership Programme between Nigeria and the United Kingdom will enhance trade and deepen economic relations between both countries.
Aboloma said this during the public unveiling of the programme on Wednesday in Abuja.
The programme is being implemented by the British Standards Institution (BSI) under the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Aboloma said that the programme was aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s national quality infrastructure in line with contemporary global standards, particularly in standards development, conformity assessment, metrology and accreditation.
According to him, the initiative, now in its third phase, supports seamless import and export processes and enhances job creation, social welfare, and economic development.
He commended the UK government, BSI, and stakeholders from both public and private sectors for their enthusiastic support and collaboration in the implementation of the programme.
Aboloma reiterated the NQC’s commitment to ensuring full implementation of Nigeria’s National Quality Policy and expressed readiness to collaborate with regional and global partners.
Also speaking, Dr Mike Pete, Team Lead at BSI, said that the programme builds on lessons learned from a United Nations-led global review of quality policy implementation challenges, in which Nigeria actively participated.
Pete said that quality infrastructure must be market-driven to be effective and sustainable, stressing the need for sector-specific strategies and stronger consumer awareness.
He praised Nigeria for establishing a National Quality Council with high-level political backing, saying it positioned the country ahead of many peers in Africa.
He reiterated ongoing interventions by the programme.
These include technical support for the drafting of a national quality bill, capacity building for NQC staff and a pilot initiative in the leather sector to identify quality gaps along the value chain.
Pete said that BSI was also working with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), the Nigerian National Accreditation System (NiNAS) and other stakeholders to provide training, IT tools and improve laboratory sustainability.
He said that Nigeria’s quality reform experience could help shape global implementation frameworks currently under review at the United Nations level.
Dr Celestine Okanya, the Director-General of NiNAS said that the partnership had enabled the system to undergo a critical peer evaluation that brought Nigeria’s accreditation system in line with global best practices.
Okanya said that this would significantly reduce export rejections, as products certified by accredited Nigerian bodies would now be accepted internationally without additional testing.
He said that before the intervention, Nigeria faced frequent rejections due to weak accreditation systems, adding that since the peer evaluation, rejection rates had declined.
Okanya also said that there was improved collaboration among regulatory agencies, made possible through the partnership, which was gradually streamlining overlapping mandates and reducing the financial burden on MSMEs.
Also speaking, Mr Bola Fashina, Chief of Staff at the NQC, described the ongoing third phase of the programme as a game changer for Nigerian businesses.
Fashina said that the initiative had helped to bridge the gap between businesses and quality infrastructure institutions, while also promoting better inter-agency coordination.
He said that the NQC, domiciled in the Presidency, was created to harmonise and coordinate quality-related efforts across all sectors.
He said that it would ensure that the Nigerian Quality Policy was effectively implemented with both public and private sector participation.
(NAN)