In highly performing economies in the world, the government agencies know their briefs or mandates and keep to them without any attempt to interfere or encroach on other bodies’ statutory responsibilities. By so doing, businesses, industries and commercial activities experience smooth and steady growth. But in Nigeria, the situation isdifferent because of over-lapping of functions among the Federal Government’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs.In Nigeria, government’s regulatory agencies set up to facilitate businesses are often times at one another’s jugular, making the essence of establishing them counter productive.
Industry watchers have expressed serious disgust concerning the recent move by one of the Federal Government’s agencie known as the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), trying to take over one major statutory mandate of yet another federal agency, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON.In a recent online advertisement,NESREA appealed to importersto obtain its newly formulated Environmental Clearance permit which according to it, would now replace SONCAP certificate usually administered and issued by SON.The development, according to industry watchers, is nothing but a clear confrontation by NESREA against SON, two sister-agencies of the Federal Government which are expected to work harmoniously n the spirit of inter-agency co-operation.For NESREA requesting importers to apply for the agency’s permitnegates the spirit of Federal Government’s ease of doing business mantra.
According to the online report,the safety of the products are not even given consideration. This is another way to tax consumers and manufacturers. The NESREA procedure only requires the importers to send the agency’s Material Safety Data Sheet, MSDS, along with applicationto get a permit. This allows for serious loopholes in the entire system.
