Nigeria marks World Accreditation Day

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The Nigeria National Accreditation Service, NiNAS, has kicked off a nationwide sensitisation campaign to mark World Accreditation Day, a global initiative to raise awareness on the importance of accreditation.

NiNAS was established through the collaboration of the Nigerian government and the European Union-funded National Quality Infrastructure Project, which is implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

According to Voice of Nigeria (VON), The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of NiNAS, Mr. Dahiru Adamu is optimistic that the newly-created Nigeria Accreditation Service will use the key elements of accreditation to support quality and new business opportunities in the country.

Adamu speaking said, “NiNAS aims to bring all the benefits of accreditation to Nigeria. This year, we are participating in the World Accreditation Day programme for the first time. Alongside our counterparts in countries around the world, we have set up advocacy and sensitisation campaigns using our local business network and also the media to communicate the value of accreditation to the present administration, public institutions, regulators, consumers, leaders of the business community and to our clients: the laboratories. We are hopeful that this would translate to build trust for trade and the economy of Nigeria.”

World Accreditation Day is a global initiative jointly established by the International Accreditation Forum, IAF and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation, ILAC. It has been celebrated on June 9 each year by countries around the world since 2008.

This year’s theme is ‘Accreditation: A global tool to support public policy.’

“For the first time, Nigeria through NiNAS will honour the 2016 commemoration as an impending member of the IAF and ILAC consortium under the sub-theme: Accreditation: supporting quality and new business opportunities in Nigeria. This is a remarkable achievement for Nigeria, as the global recognition of the country’s first national accreditation body would bring manifold benefits. An accreditation service operating locally helps to guarantee that consumers in Nigeria receive better protection from unsafe or poor quality products,’’ Adamu explained.

“In addition, the activities of accreditation will assist companies to garner a larger share of global trade through increased exports,’’ he added.

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