SON sets review committee on service delivery

By Ezurike Ugochukwu

To inject fresh ideas  and strength service delivery, the Director General, Standards  Organization of Nigeria (SON), Mallam  Farouk Salim has inaugurated a Committee on the  review of its management practices.

While inaugurating the committee, Salim encouraged the committee to invite additional inputs, presentations, clarifications or opinions from members of the SON Management and the Staff Unions.

The Chairman of the SON Review Committee Barr.Sunny  Uwanuakwa, in his response, thanked the DG for the opportunity yo serve, maintained that  building  strong institutions  will guarantee ease of doing business,  rapid and sustainable economic growth in Nigeria.

Uwanuakwa, a retired Permanent Secretary, tasked Chief Executive Officers of Federal Government Agencies in Nigeria to build strong institutions, he promised that the five -man Independent  Committee of distinguished Nigerians will hit the ground running.

The ex- Permanent Secretary in the Office of Head of Service of the Federation said: “This is a novel approach by Mallam Farouk, toward realising his   vision for SON. We will hit the ground running and members of this committee will  devote their time and passion to the assignment with a view to delivering on the terms of reference within the time frame given,”

SON DG and members of the Committee at the inauguration

A retired Director and former Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr Kabir Wudil,who is also a member of the committee, described the setting up of the committee as an introspection capable of transforming SON toward greater contributions to nation building.

Another member, Dr Rukayyatu Abdulkareem Gurin pledged the committee’s commitment to adding value for the benefit of SON, its stakeholders and the Nigerian economy.

SON Director General, Mallam  Farouk Salim, however described the occasion as historic and going against the norms in an attempt to build strong processes for the organisation that would outlive its  Chief Executives’ tenures.

He mandated the committee to help examine the structure of SON, its processes and practices with a view to providing a template to address operational, service delivery and staff welfare challenges to entrench equity and fairness as well as provide greater opportunities for staff to better contribute to attainment of organisational goals.

Salim also  enumerated the committee’s terms of reference to include,  control and coordination, communication and effectiveness, manpower dispositions and manning levels, recruitment, postings and transfers as well as public perception of the organisation and its services among others.

The SON helmsman also stated that the committee members were carefully selected given their rich pedigrees and experiences in the public sector and the management’s belief in their competence and ability to contribute to the growth of SON.

According to him, copies of departmental presentations containing  activities, achievements, challenges and meaningful suggestions already obtained from interactions with Directors, Heads of Departments and Units as well as relevant portions of the handover notes provided by the last management would be made available to the committee.

The DG  stated that arrangements had been made for the committee to visit the organisation’s   major operational offices in Lagos, Enugu, Port Harcourt and Kano to feel the pulse of the staff and have a broad view of the organisation.

He  said  that the committee had four weeks from the date of inauguration to submit its interim report and would be expected to submit its final report before the end of the year.

Other members of the Committee are , Pharmacist Mashood Oluku Lawal, retired Director, Federal Ministry of Health and a former member of the SON Governing Council and the SON Director, Human Resources Management, Mr. Abdulkadir Usman, who is to serve as the facilitator.