NIGERIA AMONGST THE FIRST THREE NATIONS IN THE WORLD TO DEVELOP A GOOD GOVERNANCE STANDARD – UNIDO EXPERT
“There are just two nations in the world who have come up with a Good Governance Standard (GGS) apart from Nigeria and this journey started just two years ago yet we have made good progress with the availability of a final draft standard and with a target to launch the standards in May this year”. The statement was made recently by a UNIDO Expert Osama Elmeligy during the training for the Technical Committee on Good Governance Standards held at the Corporate Head Quarters of Standards Organisation of Nigeria, Abuja.
According to Elmeligy ‘’ the three countries working on or developing Good Governance Standard in the world are UK, Nigeria and Egypt and I am also aware that UK and Nigeria are in pole positions while the third country Egypt only recently started the process . Nigeria has a leadership role in the world in this respect therefore it should not lose its position as UNIDO is ready to give every support so that the GG Standards is published as scheduled and to continue to be in the forefront of promoting good governance with the virtues of integrity, accountability and transparency in carrying out business in the country”.
In his remarks at the event, the representative of Management in the Technical Committee and the Director Standards of Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), Mr. Abiola Komolafe commended the Technical Committee for the job done so far stating that after review and inputs from stakeholders the GG standard achieved the final draft status in December 2016.
According to him, the training on the Final Draft GG Standard by UNIDO is to set in progress the validation process, communication and marketing and the recognition process of the standard, after which it will be approved by the SON Council before it can be launched nationally in May 2017. Furthermore, when fully implemented it is expected that the GG Standard will boost the anti-corruption drive of the federal government in the public/private and Non-governmental sectors.
The GG Standard falls under the category of Standards referred to as voluntary standards and therefore not a mandatory standard, however it is auditable and certifiable, it is therefore expected to be subscribed to across board by a wide spectrum of organizations and institutions as it seeks to promote best practices in every facet of public and private sector business in Nigeria.
UNIDO with the donor partnership of the EU has since 2014 being working with SON in the establishment of the National Quality Infrastructure Project (NQIP) for Nigeria. The GG Standard NIS 901 is part of an action plan for building trust for trade within the National Quality Infrastructure Project in the country.
Source: ISO