A businessman in Port
Harcourt, John Odoemele, has called on the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to intensify efforts in ensuring that counterfeit and fake products are being eliminated in the market.
Odoemele, who made the call in Port Harcourt, recently, while interacting with The Tide, lamented  the influx of fake and counterfeit products in Nigerian market.
He said that it has become very difficult these days to differentiate between counterfeit and original goods, adding that SON should be proactive in the discharge of its functions as the constituted authority.
Odemele, who is a dealer and distributor in household and consumer items blamed the sole distributors also for the influx of fake goods in the market, stressing that the sole distributors contributed immensely to the sales of fake products in Nigeria.
“It is the responsibility of the manufacturers to put a check on their agents. Most importantly, the sole distributors  contribute immensely to the sales of fake products in Nigeria”, he said.
He also submitted that government alone could not fight this problem, and urged Nigerians to wake up to the challenge and collaborate with government agency and manufacturers to fight counterfeiting.
It would be recalled that the Director General of SON, Dr Joseph Odumody had said in a conference that the organisation was working within its power to fight counterfeit products in Nigeria.
He said that the SON had a bill before the National Assembly that would soon be passed into law; saying “this bill is to combat inferior products by destroying them within 90 days and prosecute the importer and distributor.”

Corlins Walter