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The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has commissioned its  North East Regional Office and Laboratory Complex in Bauchi State.

SON Director General, Mallam Farouk A Salim, who disclosed this at the event in Bauchi on December 8, 2022, stated that the accreditation of the labouratories would be completed soon.

He explained that the accreditation would ensure global acceptance of the test reports from the facility in accordance with the principle of’ tested once accepted globally.

At the event attended by Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, Kauran Bauchi, the Honourable Minister of State, Industry, Trade and Investment, Mariam Y. Katagum, the SON boss said that the purpose of the project was to improve the turnaround time for the delivery of the agency’s laboratory services, thereby protecting its integrity of testing systems.

He explained that the choice of Bauchi for the North East Regional Office was because of the disposition of its people whom, he described as great entrepreneurs in diverse aspects of commerce and industry.

He noted “Bauchi was the first state in the North East to offer us land large enough for our purpose.

“Indeed, our application for this land was treated with utmost dispatch. Your Excellency, please accept our immense gratitude for the professional manner your officials handled our application.

“The edifice we are commissioning comprises laboratories on the ground floor and 18 offices on the first and second floor in addition to a large conference room. The offices would house the North East Regional Office of the organisation as well as our Bauchi State Office.”

The laboratories are in Food Chemistry and Engineering. The Food Chemistry laboratory would focus on food-related products including the very popular Bauchi “Masa and Danbun Nama”, while the Engineering laboratory is dedicated for products in the built industry serving both large entity such as Lafarge Cement Company in nearby Gombe State and thousands of block moulders in Bauchi state and across the North East, he said.

The director general also pointed out that the laboratories in the complex were deliberately designed to meet the needs of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME’s) major drivers for the economic development of our country.