SON starts electronic port, border clearance
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has started the process for the implementation of electronic demand notes, receipts, as well as port and border electronic clearing processes as part of effort to enhance seamless service delivery to stakeholders.
Speaking at a strategy meeting on the deployment of the solutions in Lagos, the Director General of SON, Osita Aboloma, said the transitioning to the electronic demand note and receipt, as well electronic port and border operations, would mitigate challenges faced by customers and clients of SON and promote greater efficiency in service delivery.
Represented by a Director in the DG’s office Mr. Kabir Mohammed, Aboloma posited that the electronic platforms would create a business solution tailored around SON services aimed at achieving the organisation’s strategic goals.
Introducing the proposed solution, Deputy Managing Director, Vatebra Limited, an award winning information technology company, Mr. Mike Aigbe, said the organisation had helped in creating similar solutions for organisations in Nigeria and other African countries in the last 15 years.
Mr. Aigbe said the company’s objective from the onset was to create a payment engine that could be plugged into all manner of applications for the processing of financial transactions for organisations, including SON.
He listed some of the organisations that have benefited from the company’s electronic solution services in Nigeria as including the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
He stated that the strategy meeting with heads of departments and units in the Lagos Operational Headquarters was a follow up to an earlier one at the Corporate Headquarters, Abuja, to interact with process owners and gather data in order to customise the proposed solutions to their specific needs.
The Vertebra deputy MD enumerated the achievable gains from the proposed electronic processes solutions as including eliminating human intervention in the processes for greater efficiency; cost savings on printing of manual demand notes and receipts; elimination of the stress associated with moving from point A to B to obtain demand notes and receipts; real time payment confirmation and promotion of inter-departmental synergy and seamless processes.