The ISPON Question: Are We Paying Attention?

Recently, I became privy to certain non-public documents and developments concerning the occupational safety profession in Nigeria. I cannot share the documents or their specifics because they were received in confidence.

But what I have seen raises a question that every Nigerian safety professional should be asking.

What place does our own statutory professional body occupy in the systems we are building?

ISPON is not simply another safety association. It was established by an Act of the National Assembly, with statutory responsibilities that include setting professional standards in collaboration with relevant government agencies, advising on qualifications for safety practice and maintaining the register of safety professionals in Nigeria.

Yet, from what I have become privy to, international qualifications are finding explicit recognition within emerging government frameworks while ISPON itself is conspicuously absent.

There is nothing wrong with NEBOSH, IOSH or any credible international qualification. We need global competence.

But shouldn’t Nigeria’s own statutory professional framework have a clear place at the table too?

And this appears to go beyond one document. Policies, frameworks and decisions capable of shaping the future of our profession are developing, sometimes without the wider professional community even realising what is happening.

But before we point every finger at government, there is another uncomfortable question:

Is our own house in order?

If the institution meant to represent the profession is caught in prolonged internal disputes and competing interests, how effectively can it engage government, defend its statutory space and command the confidence its position requires?

This is bigger than ISPON versus NEBOSH or IOSH.

It is about whether Nigeria will build a credible professional safety system of its own while remaining globally connected.

While we argue amongst ourselves, decisions are being made.

While we fight over the house, are we noticing what is happening to the land beneath it?

That is the conversation Nigerian safety professionals need to start having.

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