In a bid to revive business atmosphere in the country, Acting President Osinbajo has directed both the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration & Control, NAFDAC, and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, to ascertain specific timelines within which they would be able to grant licenses and approvals required of them by Nigerians and business interests.
Osinbajo gave the directive at a stakeholders’ meeting in Aba.
The acting president had visited Aba to flag-off the Presidency’s MSMES Clinics where medium & small scale businesses are brought together in one spot with Federal Government regulatory agencies they interface with.
At the meeting, also attended by the Industry, Trade & Investment Minister, Okey Enelamah, and the Minister of State in the ministry, Aisha Abubakar, the acting president said it’s the role of government’s regulatory agencies to act as catalysts of beneficial change and to take responsibility for facilitating businesses in the country.
The Director-General of SON, Aboloma Osita, who attended the meeting announced that within 60 days the agency will issue required approvals, while the Acting Director-General of NAFDAC, Yetunde Oni, said within 90 days the agency will issue required licenses.
Both officials said the timing starts from the day the requests are submitted.
“We must see ourselves as agents of some catalytic change, we must take some responsibility to make profound changes possible,” Osinbajo told regulatory agencies during a follow-up meeting with the Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, medium & small scale business owners from the state and some Federal Government regulatory agencies.
According to the Acting President, regulatory agencies like NAFDAC and SON would be judged by how many people, businesses they are able to support “to achieve the greatest public good.”
He commended the Abia State Governor for his drive, adding that “Made in Aba” products are now acquiring a mark of quality.
“Like I said during my visit to Aba, you can’t have any serious kind of industrialization in this country, without a focus on Aba,” the acting president said.
Osinbajo also met with the Governors of Cross Rivers, Ben Ayade; Akwa Ibom, Udom Emmanuel, and Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, alongside top officials of the National Boundary Commission, led by the Director-General, Muhammad Ahmad, to review updates on boundary and boundary demarcation issues.