The guarantee came following a barrage of questions from Togolese journalists about the quality of goods that will be on display at the two-week exhibition. The Director of Product Development of the Council, Mr. Olajide Ibrahim, who had been taken on by the Togolese journalist over the perception that Nigerian products were fake, sub-standard and unfit for consumption had to painstakingly explain to the journalists that Nigerian products were of good quality and could compete favorably in the global market. According to the NEPC official, every product from Nigeria that was derived from the official source was duly inspected and certified by the twin-regulatory bodies of NAFDAF and the SON, but the same guarantee could not be given for the goods that were smuggled out of the country. To check the unwholesome activities of smugglers who, perpetrate the sale of sub-standard and fake products, he counseled the journalist to use their medium to campaign against them and help clamp down on their unwholesome activities.
Olajide asserted that the exhibition was designed to open up a floodgate of commercial activities that will be mutually beneficial to the two nations, as he warned against the smear campaign that was capable of stunting the economies of African States.
