ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH OFFICERS REGISTRATION COUNCIL OF NIGERIA PRESS RELEASE
The Registrar, Environmental Health Officers Registration Council of Nigeria (EHORECON) Dr. Dominic Abonyi has taken a swipe on the purported roles of Food Hygiene Initiative, a non-governmental organisation which seeks to register and license food hygiene adding that, this is a negation to the Council’s law because we cannot be registering and issuing license while an NGO too is doing same, he enthused.
Dr. Abonyi made this known in his office in Abuja when a team of Food Hygiene Initiative of Nigeria paid him a courtesy visit to seek for collaboration with the Council on food hygiene and water safety.
He stated that, the Council was established by Act 11 of 2002 to regulate the practice of environmental health in Nigeria. ‘’We have the power to determine the standards of knowledge and skill to be attained by persons seeking to practice environmental health in Nigeria adding that, the Act also gave us the power to create register of professionals, maintain and publish as the case may be’’.
The Registrar acknowledged that Food Hygiene Initiative has a very big role in this food safety problem so also the Council too as a profession and practitioners in the field saying ‘’Food Hygiene Initiative of Nigeria is free to organise its programmes and workshops within its jurisdiction’’.
The (EHORECON) boss revealed that, the government has made its position clear that, they cannot be everywhere and do everything saying, that is why the Council have maintained good corporation and collaboration with NGOs that have close mandate and working interest in areas related to our mandate, adding that, environmental health officers are chief hygienist and chief hygiene educator right from the time of colonial masters, he asserted.
Earlier, the Director General, Food Initiative of Nigeria represented by Deputy Director General Mrs. Rukkiayatu Usman, stated that, the essence of the visit was to seek collaboration with the Council as a way of complementing its activities and also for further assistance.
SIGNED
Kehinde A. Openibo
Head (Press and Public Communications)
For: Registrar
12/09/2017
