Hot season, substandard products and challenges before SON in Borno

The new climate is setting in with the accompanying demands for cold water, soft drinks and any other beverage that has the capacity to assuage the powerful effect of the scorching sun. It is now very common to see people sweating even if they are sitting under a shade or moving in a vehicle. It […]

The new climate is setting in with the accompanying demands for cold water, soft drinks and any other beverage that has the capacity to assuage the powerful effect of the scorching sun.

It is now very common to see people sweating even if they are sitting under a shade or moving in a vehicle. It is also more evident in people who are doing hard labour and petty traders who display their wares under the sun.

“Few weeks ago, I drank water only two times in a day but the need for more has increased now. I take an average of seven sachet water in a day,” Ladan Isma’il, a resident of Pompomari in Maiduguri said.

Borno State lies between latitude 10 degrees and 13 degrees (N) as well as longitude 12 degrees and 15 degrees, a condition which makes it one among the hottest in the country.

Starting from February up to the middle of the year is   the booming season for traders in the business of making ‘pure water’ (water packed in sachets), yoghurt producers and other people selling drinks.

Similarly, the period is marked by an unprecedented influx of cold drinks, fruits and other consumables from the neighbouring Chad, Cameroon and Niger.

However, because of the climatic condition of the state, it is very easy for such products to change taste even if they are produced according to standards.

The case is worse for substandard products and those that are not packaged well.

A visit to many areas in Maiduguri showed that commercial borehole operators, ‘pure water’ manufacturers, yoghurt producers among others, who have hitherto closed shops because of low demand during the cold season are now coming back to business.

At Gidan Madara, a business hub in Maiduguri, this reporter saw a noticeable presence of imported beverages.

“Yes, this is the season for high sales because everybody needs cold drinks now,” Sani, a shop attendant in one of the supermarkets at Gidan Madara said.

But while the wares sold at Gidan Madara are mostly well kept, the story of water vendors in the suburbs of Maiduguri is a serious source of concern.

Young girls and boys have found a source of income in hawking packaged water that is produced from the suburbs. Many of such children now move around shops in Post Office area, GSM market, Baga Road, Customs area among others.

“We buy a wrap of 20 pieces of packaged water at the cost of N35 and we sall each piece at N5.00,” Mairo, a nine year old girl said.

“But we buy ice block of N50 which we put on top of a container of the sachet water to make it cool before going to the market,” she added.

“I do the hawking for my mother and from the profit we make, she cooks food and buys clothes for us,” she said.

The business of ice block making is also thriving in Maiduguri. Habibu Babagana was seen with big containers of ice blocks loaded in a lorry at the Monday market.

“All beverage sellers rely on us to cool their wares,” Babagana said, adding that what prompted him to venture into the business is poor power supply in the midst of increasingly high demand for cold water which makes traders that have big refrigerators to look for alternative ways of cooling their beverages.

“I did the business last year and it proved profitable. That is why I am doing it this year,” he said. “My boss has big generators for the business,” he said.

The head of the Borno State office of the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) Mr Dauda Mshelia, said considering the new climatic condition, his office has taken measures to control the proliferation of potable water and yoghurt producers as well as the influx of foreign products.

He said SON had put in place, the Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP) to ensure that all locally manufactured products conform with the relevant Nigerian Industrial Standard (NIS) before such products are presented for sale in Nigerian markets.

He said apart from the health hazards associated with substandard products “lack of conformity, assessment programme covering all products manufactured in Nigeria has prevented fair competition and distinction between quality and substandard products.”

According to him, “this is what prompted the Borno State office to conduct series of investigations and assessments with a view to control the activities of producers especially now that the hot season has set in.”

Mshelia said certificates have been issued to six potable water companies in Maiduguri  and two yoghurt companies, stressing that “any activity that does not conform with our expectations will lead to the withdrawal of the certificate,” he said.

He said the moderation has also been extended to bread and confectionoary production. “We would be forced to close the business of any defaulter for the safety of Nigerian consumers,” Mshelia said.

He said certificates have been issued to seven bakeries in the Borno area because they have satisfied the quality requirements of SON.

“As a result of shoddy deals by some bakers including the use of bromide in order to maximise profit, the lives of many consumers have been endangered. That is why we are not compromising standards,” he said.

Observers say officers and men of SON will still have to go further and check the menace of indiscriminate digging of commercial boreholes that have taken-over virtually everywhere in Maiduguri.

“Some of the boreholes were dug in unhygienic location. There is need for SON to clamp down on such boreholes for the safety of people because most of the packaged water you see in town is produced of such boreholes,” Amina Mohammed, a student of the University of Maiduguri, observed.