FG certify Iron Rod Union, as Dealers made renewed call for resuscitation of moribund steel rolling mills
The Federal Government of Nigeria has issued a certificate of Registration to Iron Rod and Steel Dealers Employers Union of Nigeria as a trade union, having met all the requirement needed to be one.
Handing over of Certificate, which was handed to the National President of the Union, Chief Gbenga Awoyale by the Registrar of Trade Unions, Falonipe Amos took place at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment headquarters, Abuja on Friday.
During the presentation, National President of the Union, Chief Awoyale urged the Federal government to resuscitate all the moribund rolling mills in the country, to create employment, enhance Nigeria’s economic growth and reduce drastically the menace of substandard steel products.
“Federal government needs to look into resuscitating moribund steel rolling mills like that of Jos, Oshogbo, Delta and Katsina. Some of these mills have not produced for more than 20 years and had been given to people to manage; government should compel the appointed managers to kickstart operations at the steel mill or re-award it to other people”, he said.
“These mills, when revived will boost our economy and create employment. The country is saturated with substandard iron rods now because our local mills are dysfunctional. Before the influx of the foreign steel companies, our iron rods were accepted internationally, but the story is no longer same today,” Awoyale added.
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Speaking on how to tackle the menace of substandard iron rods, Awoyale noted that licensing and adequate labeling of products will assist in tracking producers of these substandard products.
According to him, “Every iron rod produced is supposed to come with certificate, name of manufacturer and date of products manufacture to help eliminate substandard products in the market. All iron rods must be produced according to the specification of Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON).”
Awoyale also urged distributors of products across sectors, especially food and beverages to take a cue from iron rod dealers by championing the fight against substandard products which poses serious threats to the end consumers of such products.
Earlier, Falonipe Amos, Registrar of Trade Unions, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, urged the union to operate within their area of jurisdiction to avoid clash with other unions and also cautioned against infighting and clash of interest.
Amos who reeled out the dos and don’ts guiding unions, told the iron rod union leaders to avoid fight over membership and focus their attention on the activities of the dealers, distributors and agents.
Mr Daniel Eneje, iron rod dealer at Dei-Dei Building Materials Market, Abuja, regretted the level of substandard products in the market, noting that dealers bear the brunt of fake products in the market.
“Dealers suffer the errors of the manufacturers.
“For example, when dealers forward their request for the production of 16mm, let the manufactures give us what we ordered for and not 14 or 15mm.
“They should always supply us what we paid for. We urge SON to come to our aid and monitor what the manufactures are producing for us,” he said.
By PRNigeria
