A maritime lawyer, Emmanuel Nwagbara, has harped on the need for industrial standards in automobile manufacturing sector in Nigeria.
He also said that it is the duty of the government to prescribe that standard and ensure that manufacturers comply with the standard, even as he noted that the need for standards
He said the call for standardisation becomes more imperative to ensure that made in Nigeria vehicles can compete favorably in other parts of the continent, especially with the signing of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) by Nigeria.
Nwagbara who made this call last week in a chat with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos, charged the government to assist automobile manufacturers to ensure that they comply with the standard by providing a conducive environment to operate on.
“Nigeria should have its own industrial standard in the manufacturing of automobiles and that is not for manufacturers to prescribe it is the government that will prescribe it and then manufacturers would have to comply. And in complying the manufacturers would also need assistance. It is always said that for you to manufacture goods in Nigeria you need constant power supply”, he said.
He however distanced members of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) from the call of promoting made in Nigeria vehicles, saying that it is all about having standardization.
“So promotion of made in Nigerian goods especially automobiles is not purely an association’s main focus. Because the association’s main focus should be general, if you look at automobile manufacturing industry when you are concerned with the quality is to see if what they require for a standard product is on ground, that is what the members of that particular sector should be concerned about. The quality of the product that should be expected in Nigeria is what should be there and to have high quality automobile manufactured in Nigeria. It calls for issues of standardization; you have a standard which should be a reference for auto manufacturing”, he argued.
According to him, “an association is a body of players in the area of interest of the association and MAN is an association of Nigerian manufacturers of different products. So members that are engaged in vehicle manufacturing are just a part of MAN”
He reiterated that with the adequate raw materials available a manufacturer will spend less in getting quality and standard products.
“If you have raw materials available, of course you will spend less in getting quality products, we have labour here. We need the necessary environment that will promote quality product, we need metrology, and we need standard. We need metrology to test that standard, we need laboratories that will check the quality of what has been produced to ensure that it complies with the standard”
“But first and foremost we have to establish that standard which is called Nigerian Industrial Standard where each product must have the required standard. If it is for automobile industry this is the standard that is required, then you also need a laboratory where you can test the standard that is produced to make sure that it complies with the standard”
“Most of these things are lacking in Nigeria and we need to start now particularly when you want to take the advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) all of these things should be put in place, quality standard and the laboratory and then enabling environment that the government can provide like power amongst others” he concluded.
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