Nigerian National Accreditation System
The Director Generals / CEOs of Ghana National Accreditation Service, Nigeria National Accreditation Service and SOAC – Francophone Countries Accreditation body, UNIDO Chief Technical Adviser for West Africa Quality Infrastructure System Program with his team after first meeting of West Africa Accreditation Forum at Abidjan, Côte D Ivoire.
NiNAS participated in the Assessment of Laboratories for ISO/IEC 17025 Accreditation and interacted with the Lead Assessors from ENAO.
Laboratory assessments were scheduled in January to February 2018 to assess laboratories that applied to NiNAS for ISO17025 accreditation. NiNAS participated in the process for two laboratories in Lagos, Bato and SELFA laboratories from 20th to 22nd of February, 2018.
BATO and SELFA laboratories were successfully assessed against ISO/IEC 17025 standard and NiNAS requirements. Phase 4 training was conducted for five NiNAS trainee assessors and Assessment findings were shared with the laboratories. This brings the number of the first set of assessments done by NiNAS to eight.
The CEO of NiNAS, Celestine Okanya, presented a scientific paper on The Role of Accreditation in Improving Quality, Safety and Efficacy of Pharmaceutical Products at Faculty of Drug Production and Quality Assurance of West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists, Yaba, Lagos.
West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists is the apex institution for Pharmacists in ECOWAS region. It is the centre that produces the “Fellows” of the Profession. In preparation for graduation of these Fellows who are or will become the industry leaders, the college organizes seminars and conferences in emerging issues and areas of their practice. Accreditation is considered and emerging trend in the sub-region and the entire world.
Nigeria National Accreditation Service ( NiNAS) was therefore invited to make a presentation TITLED: THE ROLE OF ACCREDITATION IN IMPROVING QUALITY, SAFTEY AND EFFICACY OF PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS”
This meeting also provided great opportunity for NiNAS to not only initiate collaboration with the college and the industrial pharmacists, but also to market her services to the pharmaceutical industries.
Other papers where presented by several scholars – in different quality assurance related topics such an ISO standards, Good manufacturing Practice, Quality Assurance and Standard Operating Procedures. NiNAS’s paper provided the role of accreditation in improving quality, safety and efficacy of Pharmaceutical products.
This event provided a great publicity and stakeholder’s engagement opportunity for NiNAS especially in letting the public know that we have commenced operations and provision of accreditation services to the industries.
The Nigeria National Accreditation Service held its first ever joint BOT, BOD and AAC meeting on Saturday, 3rd February, 2018 at BON Hotel, Abuja, Nigeria. The 2-day event commenced on February 2nd with a joint meeting of the Board of Directors (BOD) and Accreditation Advisory Committee (AAC). This was followed on Saturday 3rd February with the Board of Trustee (BOT) members joining the meeting.
The joint meeting created an atmosphere where the three arms of NiNAS governance were able to meet and discuss crucial issues that will move the organisation forward.
The meeting also witnessed the presentation of the BOT members to the governance team, official inuaguration of the BOD members, inauguration of the AAC members. Election was conducted for the chairpersons of the Board of Directors and Accreditation Advisory Committee.
Prince (Sir) Degun Agboade, President and Chairman of Council for Nigeria Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), was elected chairman for the Board of Directors while Dr. (Pharm.) Okey Akpa, Chairman of pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group of Manufacturers Asociation of Nigeria (MAN), was elected as the Chairman of Accreditation Advisory Committee. Dr. Dahiru Adamu remains the chairman, Board of Trustees.
BOD and AAC members also had separate inaugural meetings.
The ECOWAS Commission organized a forum on Regional Quality Infrastructure, in Dakar, Senegal, from the 29th of January to the 1st of February 2018.
This Forum is part of the dynamic of the implementation of the Common Industrial Policy and the ECOWAS Quality Policy, both adopted by the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.
It was organised within the framework of the West Africa Quality System Programme (WAQSP) funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).
The objective of this Forum was to bring together the principal regional and international actors on quality on the main themes, in order to strengthen the promotion and sustainability of the regional quality infrastructure being set up. The following activities were carried out during the Forum:
Nigeria National Accreditation Service (NiNAS), Nigeria, is welcomed as an Affiliate member of ILAC.
We welcome NiNAS and look forward to working with our NiNAS colleagues.
PRESS RELEASE
Nigeria National Accreditation Service (NiNAS) highlighted its importance during the 2017 edition of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) – International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) Joint Annual Meetings that took place from 19 October to 1 November 2017 in Vancouver, Canada.
IAF-ILAC 2017 presented NiNAS with opportunities to engage and network with international accreditation bodies and actively participate in global accreditation activities including working group meetings, task force meetings and general assemblies of both the International Accreditation Forum and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation.
Activities at the conference included discussions on the need for accreditation bodies to align all documents with international standards on general requirements for accreditation bodies assessing and accrediting conformity assessment bodies (ISO/IEC 17011:2017); reports by regional co-operations including by the African Accreditation Cooperation (AFRAC); and updates in membership status.
NiNAS also participated in the International Halal Accreditation Forum (IHAF) workshop on ‘Global Halal Trade, Challenges and Opportunities,’ during which, NiNAS was admitted into IHAF Affiliate Membership.
Nigeria National Accreditation Service also entered into a memorandum of understanding with Gulf Accreditation Council on strategic partnership and cooperation on Accreditation of Conformity Assessment Bodies.
Nigeria National Accreditation Service was established within the framework of National Quality Infrastructure Project for Nigeria (NQIP), funded by the EU and implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
IAF has renewed its tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) at a signing ceremony held on 24 November in Vienna, Austria. The renewal extends the commitment between IAF, ILAC and UNIDO to cooperate in the field of accreditation and conformity assessment to facilitate the integration of developing countries into the global quality infrastructure, enhance the impact of industrial development on economic growth, and assist the integration of developing countries and transition economies into the global economy. Read More…..
ABUJA 11 October 2017 – The 6th EU-Nigeria Business Forum took place on 5 and 6 October 2017, in Lagos. The event was organized by the European Union Delegation, in collaboration with the European business and investment delegations in Nigeria, and European embassies and consulates. The interactive forum brought together European and Nigerian business representatives and policy makers to discuss trade and investment opportunities the barriers to trade and best practices to overcome them.
In attendance were the Head of the European Union Delegation to Nigeria, Ambassador Ketil Karlsen; Honourable Minister of Communications Technology, Mr. Adebayo Shittu; Executive Governor of Lagos State, represented by the Commissioner for Science & Technology; Honourable Minister for Agriculture, represented by Director for Agribusiness; and the UNIDO Representative to Nigeria & ECOWAS, represented by Dr. Chuma Ezedinma.
The theme of the forum was “Youth as Engine of Broad-Based Economic Transformation” and discussions centred on how young people can impact Nigerian economic growth in the field of ICT and agribusiness; with a session on empowering women entrepreneurs.
The forum afforded the Nigeria National Accreditation Service (NiNAS) the opportunity to provide insight on the value of accreditation to international trade. NiNAS CEO, Mr. Celestine Okanya, shared the benefits of accreditation to the regulators, manufacturers, conformity assessment bodies, the Nigerian government, and consumers. Mr. Okanya has also participated in the parallel Business to Business or B2B events organized by the Enterprise Europe Network in Nigeria.
EU-Nigeria Business Forum is a collaborative effort of the European Union and its Member States present in Nigeria. Since 2012, the Forum has served as a platform for investors and business people to interact to gather essential market information and build strategic partnerships to boost domestic investments and access to the EU market.
Nigeria National Accreditation Service was established within the framework of National Quality Infrastructure Project for Nigeria (NQIP), funded by the EU and implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
ABUJA, 31 August 2017 – The Nigeria National Accreditation Service (NiNAS) has been officially presented with the Directory of Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs). The directory is a collation of the internationally accredited Conformity Assessment Bodies across the West African region. The formal presentation took place on 22 August 2017 in Abuja during the opening ceremony of the Extended Steering Committee of the West Africa Quality System Programme (WAQSP), with delegates from across the ECOWAS region and Mauritania.
The directory of CABs is specific objective 3 of the WAQSP which aims to provide private and public sectors with access to a network of accredited and competitive conformity assessment services provided in the West African region. The document, with the full title, ‘Directory of Accredited Conformity Assessment Bodies in West Africa’, is a comprehensive list of accredited laboratories in the ECOWAS region, as well as the international accrediting institutions.
During the opening session, the Head of Co-operation of the European Union Delegation to Nigeria & ECOWAS, Mr. Kurt Cornelius, assured the delegates of the EU’s “commitment to trade and quality in West Africa.” ECOWAS Commissioner for Industry and Private Sector Promotion, Mr. Kalilou Traore, stated that “Quality Infrastructure is an indispensable tool to support the [region’s] economy.”
The opening remarks were followed by a review of the directory of CABS, prepared by UNIDO through the WAQSP. Nigerian CABs listed therein are composed of three (3) medical laboratories accredited in ISO 15189 and eight (8) laboratories accredited in ISO IEC 17025. The eleven (11) Nigerian laboratories span both private and public sectors.
The Chief Executive Officer of NiNAS, Mr. Celestine Okanya, received the directory on behalf of the Accreditation Service. In his goodwill message, Mr. Okanya called the directory “a big marketing tool,” saying that the document has helped to identify the market of the future within the ECOWAS and Mauritania.
The Directory of Accredited Conformity Assessment Bodies in West Africa will be published regularly and will also be available online, updated with newly accredited conformity bodies.
Nigerian National Accreditation Service (NiNAS) was established as a component of the National Quality Infrastructure Project for Nigeria (NQIP), which is funded by the EU and implemented by UNIDO.
For more information:
NiNAS website: ninas.ng; and NQIP website: nqi-nigeria.org