By Adedapo Adesanya
To commemorate World Standards Day 2020, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has called on Nigerians to uphold standards in their undertakings to ensure responsible use of limited resources to help sustain a healthy environment.
This call was made by the Director-General of SON, Mr Farouk Salim, in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday while commemorating the 2020 World Standards Day, which is celebrated globally on October 14 to raise awareness among regulators, industry and consumers to the importance of standardisation to the global economy.
The theme for the 2020 World Standards Day titled Protecting the planet with standards.
Mr Salim said that standards covered all aspects of human activities including energy savings, water and air quality, standardised protocols and methods of measurement.
According to him, the nation’s rapid population growth and broad urbanisation call for the responsible use of limited resources.
“Nigerians should join the quality vanguard and continue to support SON in its quest to improve the lives of Nigerians through standards and quality assurance activities as well as protecting the environment for sustainability.
“This can be achieved through the reduction in throwaway, reuse and recycle, and landfill of spaces as well as spreading information on the importance and value of our natural resources.
“Experts in international standardisation around the world have advocated a substantial reduction in human impact and protection of the planet, seeking political will, concrete action and the right tools among which are international standards.
“This advocacy is predicated on the human and large-scale industrial activities which modern civilisation have added to earth’s natural greenhouse gases which negatively impact our climate and with it,’’ he said.
The DG said that the organisation as a representative of the international standardisation bodies in Nigeria was propagating global standards through adoption and modification for local use.
He expressed SON’s commitment to manpower training through seminars, workshops, consumer enlightenment activities and certification of products, processes and systems using international standards.
He suggested volunteering for cleanups in communities, more efficient use of water to avoid waste and use of energy-efficient appliances as important conservation ideas that should be upheld by Nigerians.
Mr Salim also called for the planting of trees to provide food and oxygen as well as the use of non-toxic chemicals at homes and in offices.
He also appreciated the efforts of the thousands of experts who develop voluntary standards within standards development organisations.
They include the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Modupe Gbadeyanka