SON trains 60 staff on ADR to improve service delivery

No fewer than 60 staff of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) are undergoing Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) training to improve their service delivery.

Mr Osita Aboloma, the Director-General of SON declared the training open in Enugu on Tuesday for its staff in the 17 states of the Southern part of the country.

Aboloma, represented by Mallam Usman Abdullahi, Director of Human Resources Management of SON said that the training was meant for SON officials to relate well with Nigerians in the discharge of the agency’s mandates.

He noted that the training would make staff to be professional and live above rudimentary mistakes in discharge of their daily duties.

“The essence of this training is to improve the capacity of staff to deliver quality services and improve their relationship skills as they discharge their daily duty.

“The training aims at exploring other avenues to solve issues that concerns enforcement of standards without necessary going to the formal law courts.

“The SON Act as amended had given SON the mandate to prosecute those that goes against its mandate.

“However, we feel that there should be other avenues apart from the courts that SON can easily achieve the agency’s mandate.

“So, on this premise, SON is partnering with the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators (ICMC) to train some of its staff on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR),’’ he said.

According to him, the training will be very beneficial both to the enforcement and office staff of the agency.

Also speaking, Ambassador Victor Ojaide, a facilitator of the training, noted that the training would equip SON staff on the skills for effective and objective ADR practice.

Ojaide, who is also the Vice President (Training) of ICMC, said that the training would provide tools to understand how to bring parties closer to settle issues in a harmonious manner.

“The ADR lessons will equip them on how to deal with issues and win trust and public confidence even as they discharge their duties.

“The training will teach better ways of approaching issues and people even as they carry out their official mandates,’’ he said.