SON urges tyre marketers to maintain safety standards

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria has asked tyre marketers to maintain standards in their operations in order to help prevent loss of lives on highways.

The Director-General of SON, Mr. Anthony Aboloma, stated this during a one day workshop on ‘Safety and quality requirements of tyres’ which was jointly organised by the organisation and Association of Nigeria Tyre Marketers, owners of the Africa Tyre Village.

The SON DG said, “This forum becomes imperative because of the proliferation of substandard tyres in our society, which has caused preventable loss of lives and property.

“This is the first time we are holding this kind of workshop in a major tyre market, and I can say that it was your passion and commitment to lead the market in the right direction that made today’s event possible.”

He also commended the executive management committee of the Africa Tyre Village for their passion and commitment to lead the market in the right direction.

Aboloma, who was represented by the SON Director, Directorate of Certification, Oluremi Ayeni, explained that the workshop was one in the series of stakeholders’ workshops for sectoral groups in Lagos, to promote the economic well-being of residents of the state.

He also urged all the participants to see themselves as worthy ambassadors of SON, not only by maintaining safety and quality standards but to continue spreading the message to all their customers and tyre users.

Apart from more than 2,000 traders that were present at the Africa Tyre Village, venue of the workshop, the occasion also drew participants from many other stakeholder groups in the country’s tyre value chain, such as the National Association of Vulcanizers, Auto Spare Parts And Machinery Dealers Association, Tools And Hardware Dealers Association, United Allied Spare Parts Dealers Association, Infinity Tyres, Maxxis Tyres, the Federal Road Safety Corps and the police.

The President of ANTM, Issa Mohammed, said the decision to host the workshop was part of the association’s contribution to the economic and social development of the country.

“This workshop is aimed at educating and bringing enlightenment to the tyre value chain,” he said.