Multinational power management company, Eaton, which also operates in Nigeria, said counterfeiting is major concern in the electrical industry because of the grave consequence on human lives and properties.
Eaton, which said counterfeits and sub-standard products only mean one thing – safety of lives is compromised, stressed that these counterfeits are the major cause of electrical fires leading to damages in property and loss of investment.
The company disclosed this in Lagos, during a sales activation programme at the Jankara Market, Lagos Island. Marketing Manager for Eaton in West Africa, Kunmi Odunoku, said the firm has been powering businesses across Nigeria over the years, bridging the energy gap with safe, reliable and affordable solutions.
On counterfeiting, Odunoku said it is interesting to note that there are standards regulating the industry but enforcement has been very weak.
According to him, quite a number of no-frills brand and unbranded products are coming from Asia giving cheap substitute, which in the long run is not cheap.
He said consumers and end-users continue to fall victim to unscrupulous elements in the open market, and this in turn affect the growth of the industry as customers express pessimism about the electrical distribution products in general.
Odunoku said Eaton is looking forward to working with regulators and other stakeholders to curb the menace of counterfeiting. “One of such stakeholders is the Licensed electrical contractors association of Nigeria (LECAN). We also work with ACEN (Association of Consulting engineers of Nigeria) and NIEEE (Nigeria institute of electrical electronics engineers), a branch of Nigeria society of Engineers. Eaton is also involved in an Industry-wide campaign bringing together several top OEMs in a common task to combat counterfeits.”
The Eaton Marketing Manager, who said the second activation comes up at Otigba Computer Village, Ikeja, stated: “This is the first of other outreach initiatives we plan to implement for our products, as we feel there is a need in the market for safe and reliable solutions for electrical installations that we are able to provide. So it only falls to good reason that we reach out to this market in a bid to fill this gap.”
Forging through the restrictions caused by the pandemic, and other situational bottlenecks,Odunoku said Eaton still remains optimistic about its consumer base, and vows to continue to find new ways of outreach and communication with its stakeholders.
On the impact of COVID-19 on Eaton’s operation, Odunoku said the pandemic did affect the firm’s operation in several ways. “Thankful with our IT tools we were able to do remote work and continued to fulfil our brand promise.
During the period we had to look at intuitive ways to reach our customers digitally since we couldn’t meet physically. In terms of our top and bottom line, it was a learning experience for us as we collaborated and exchange ideas that helped the business grow tangibly.”