Nigeria: The management of Lafarge Nigeria has urged stakeholders in the cement sector to cooperate on the need for proper product labelling by manufacturers.

The company's general manager (Industrial Performance), Lanre Opakunle, said that the step was necessary to address the issue of incorrect cement application in the Nigeria. Opakunle said that there is a need to review how cement products are labelled in order to educate end users on the basic steps necessary for the correct application and results.

"We discovered that labelling is not adequate and we made some proposals," said Opakunle. "However, those proposals have not been taken on board. We will keep making efforts to see that they are." Opakunle added that correct labelling would help to ensure that people have the right information at their disposal.

"Lafarge is the only cement manufacturer in the market that puts the uses and specifications of cement on their bags," said Opakunle. "In our technical submission to SON we said that we want to do more than that; we want to put it in a way that the layman can understand." He noted that issues of cement application should not dwell on the cement grades; rather it should be about knowing the right mix.

"The most widely used individual application of cement in the world is 32.5 grade," said Opakunle. "It is important that the user understands how to use whatever grade of cement that is available on the shelf because of certain risks which may maybe associated with these grades, whether it is 32.5 or 42.5 grade. The information should be properly labelled on the bags."