The National President of the Iron Rod and Steel Dealers Employers Union of Nigeria, Chief Gbenga Awoyale, has alleged sabotage within the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).

He said compromised regulatory enforcement continues to fuel the production and circulation of substandard iron rods across the country.

He said this while reacting to the recent collapse of a three storey building in Rivers State, which left several persons injured.

According to him, the incident, like many others recorded across the country, was directly linked to the persistent use of substandard construction materials.

“These building collapses are not acts of fate. They are the product of weak oversight, deliberate compromise and systemic regulatory failure,” he said.

The union leader noted that the National Assembly had on several occasions acknowledged the danger posed by substandard iron rods.

“Members of the National Assembly, including Hon. Zainab Gimba, Hon. Billy Osawaru and Hon. Yinka Aluko, has openly raised alarm over this menace and its danger to lives and national infrastructure,” Awoyale said.

He said efforts by the legislature to summon relevant regulatory agencies, particularly SON, to address the issue had reportedly been frustrated by non-appearance and institutional resistance.

“It is disturbing that agencies can ignore legislative summons without consequences. This has emboldened regulatory impunity and weakened oversight,” he said.

Awoyale alleged that enforcement within SON had been compromised, especially in Lagos State, Nigeria’s main industrial hub.

“There are instances where officials in Lagos alert manufacturers ahead of inspections. When that happens, factories temporarily shut down or hide non compliant production, and everything appears normal,” he said.

He explained that the practice allows offending factories to evade sanctions while continuing dangerous production.

The union president further alleged that some manufacturers deliberately produce substandard iron rods for the Nigerian market while exporting standard compliant products to neighbouring West African countries.

“The painful truth is that many of these manufacturers have the capacity to meet standards, but they choose to give Nigerians inferior products while exporting quality ones,” he said.

He warned that the continued coexistence of compromised regulation and weak legislative enforcement had created an environment where dangerous products thrive without consequences.

Awoyale called on the National Assembly to demonstrate legislative courage by enforcing its oversight powers and strengthening laws aimed at prohibiting the manufacture and sale of substandard products.

He also urged the immediate removal of the head of SON in Lagos State.

“The head of SON in Lagos should be removed immediately to allow an independent and transparent investigation into these allegations of sabotage and abuse of office,” he said.

The union leader stressed that Nigerians could no longer continue to live, work and worship in buildings whose safety had been sacrificed to corruption.

“Nigerian lives must come first. A nation cannot claim progress while its buildings keep collapsing because standards are deliberately undermined,” Awoyale added. (Daily Trust)