Nigerians spent over N1 trillion on the importation of fake and sub-standard products last year, the Director General of Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) Mr Joseph Odumodu,, has said.

Odumodu disclosed this yesterday in an interview with newsmen in Abuja.

He listed the imported items to include electrical accessories, switches, batteries, used refrigerators and air conditioners and other environment degrading materials and junks.

Odumodu said the agency seized and evacuated about 20 trucks of fake energy saving bulbs, substandard iron rods and fake tyres.

He expressed concern at the rate at which fake tyres are imported into the country, and said that most importers of second hand tyres “do not usually buy them but are paid to help dispose them of by foreign countries.

Odumodu said that all countries have challenges with disposing off expired tyres.

“The life span of a tyre in Europe and America ranges between four years and five years, and an average European or American will remove his tyres, even if they have not covered 10,000 km, for safety reasons.

“Our people go to those sites where they keep tyres to pick them; actually they don’t buy them.

“I am even told that they pay them to help them dispose of the tyres and where do they dispose the tyres but in Nigeria; so they bring them to us,’’ he said.

The director general said the agency was saddled with the challenge and task of how to dispose of the seized tyres and had resolved not to burn them because of the impact on the environment.

“We don’t want to burn them as we will be polluting the environment; nor can we throw them into the sea; we must protect the aquatic life,’’ he said.

Odumodu, however, said the agency was discussing with investors on the possibility of setting up tyre shredding plants in the country.

Meanwhile, the former President, Institute of Chartered Chemists of Nigeria (ICCON) Mr Harry Okolo,, has said that the country loses about N1 trillion annually to importation of industrial raw materials.

Okolo made this known while speaking with newsmen yesterday at the ongoing Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) techno-expo and silver jubilee.

He said that the country lost N1 trillion to the importation of between 80 per cent and 90 per cent industrial raw materials needed in the manufacturing and construction sectors of the economy.

Okolo said that the problem was not the non-availability of raw materials locally, but the inability of Nigerians to transform available natural resources to utilisable forms.

He urged the government and the organised private sector, to look inward and study the road map to industrial development as put together by the RMRDC in the past 25 years.

“If the industrial sector continues to depend on imported raw materials without investing in local raw materials development and utilisation, industrial development will remain a mirage,’’ Okolo said.

He commended RMRDC for its efforts in the following some secondary raw materials that were abundantly available in the country.

They include precipitated calcium carbonate, hydrated lime, glucose syrup and starch and high quality cassava flour.

Okolo said, “I believe Nigeria has a comparative advantages in the development and utilisation of these raw materials.

“If commercially exploited and developed, they can earn and save the nation huge foreign reserves.”

Okolo said that for Nigerian economy to be competitive at the global level, efforts must be made to produce goods and services with global perspectives, targeting global competitiveness.

He said, “We must spare no effort to look inward to tap, develop and utilise the locally available raw materials.

“Government must make concert effort to address the critical issues of transparency, responsible governance, power generation, public private partnership, infrastructure and security.

“So, the country will have to provide a healthy environment for industrial transformation and investment.”

He said that if the industrial potentials of Nigeria could be maximally harnessed through the concerted and joint efforts of government, private sector and academia, the transformation agenda and vision 20:20-20 of the nation could be realised.

He listed the imported items to include electrical accessories, switches, batteries, used refrigerators and air conditioners and other environment degrading materials and junks.

Odumodu said the agency seized and evacuated about 20 trucks of fake energy saving bulbs, substandard iron rods and fake tyres.

He expressed concern at the rate at which fake tyres are imported into the country, and said that most importers of second hand tyres “do not usually buy them but are paid to help dispose them of by foreign countries.

Odumodu said that all countries have challenges with disposing off expired tyres.

“The life span of a tyre in Europe and America ranges between four years and five years, and an average European or American will remove his tyres, even if they have not covered 10,000 km, for safety reasons.

“Our people go to those sites where they keep tyres to pick them; actually they don’t buy them.

“I am even told that they pay them to help them dispose of the tyres and where do they dispose the tyres but in Nigeria; so they bring them to us,’’ he said.

The director general said the agency was saddled with the challenge and task of how to dispose of the seized tyres and had resolved not to burn them because of the impact on the environment.

“We don’t want to burn them as we will be polluting the environment; nor can we throw them into the sea; we must protect the aquatic life,’’ he said.

Odumodu, however, said the agency was discussing with investors on the possibility of setting up tyre shredding plants in the country.