Ilorin – The President of Public Analysts of Nigeria (IPAN), Dr Dahiru Adamu, on Tuesday called on the incoming administration to establish more laboratories for food analysis for both natural and manufactured products.
Adamu made the call in Ilorin while addressing newsmen ahead of the association’s 21st workshop.
He said that Nigeria must see the need to establish independent laboratories as an urgent requirement to ensure it has a significant number of such bodies to aid her development.
“Today Nigeria has only two internationally accredited laboratories under ISO 170025. These are NAFDAC laboratories, Oshodi Lagos, established last year, and Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), established this year, in Lagos to be commissioned soon.
“The United States of America has about 13,000 accredited labs, South Korea has 7,000, while China has 337,000 accredited laboratories.
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“These make their products to pass the international standard requirement,” he said.
Adamu said IPAN and its members are concerned with analytical laboratory tests in conventional laboratories such as in food, pharmaceutical, environmental or chemistry laboratories.
The president also frowned at a situation whereby some government agencies that should regulate and be umpires to manufacturing industries go into avenues to solicit for business with same people they want to serve.
The association urged the incoming administration to introduce the required change to look at the situation critically and set out goals that speed up development.
The president suggested that government should encourage the establishment of independent laboratories rather than leaving them in the hands of government agencies.
He also said that Nigeria had continued to have substandard products because of poor enforcement of quality.
While Nigeria tries to de-emphasise the dependence on oil products and diversify to agriculture, he said Nigeria’s agricultural products can only be acceptable in the developed world if the products are proven to be safe by public analysts. (NAN)
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