Nigerian Shippers Council, NSC said it has surpassed the United Nations, UN affirmative action on gender equality to which Nigeria is a signatory. Disclosing this at the celebration of this year’s International Women’s Day, IWD, Executive Secretary of NSC, Emmanuel Jime, said that the Council currently has 45 per cent women in it’s managerial position. The Shippers Council boss who was represented by the Director, Human Resources/Administration, Ada Okam, said, “The Nigerian Shippers’ Council is gender friendly as reflected in the number of women representation in the top cadre of Management.
“Precisely, women represent 45 per cent in the high-profile cadre as well as occupying other equally juicy positions in similar level of representation. We indeed have surpassed the 35 per cent affirmative action of the United Nations. In line with embracing equity, the Council has already trained over 65 per cent of its female staff locally and abroad in different capacity building programmes to properly position them in the organisation,” he said. Also speaking at the event, Chairperson of Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, CILT, Ufon Usoro, said there is need for women to focus on technological aspects of the maritime sector which does not require physical strength.
According to her, “I am now very pleased about the theme of the IWD which is equity through technology. And in technology we do not require physical strength because that is what men use at first that the job is strenuous, stressful. Technology is brain so we need to create opportunities for ourselves, encourage our girls to be good in science, mathematics subjects because that is where you start if you want to be good in using technology. We will always have the rest of us who are arts inclined but those that have flair for sciences and mathematics, let’s us encourage them. A lot of digitalisation is now in shipping, even being on the bridge, everything is digitalised. This is about encouraging ourselves and not being afraid that the opportunities is not there,” she noted.
Chairperson of Women in Logistics and Transport, WILT, Nigeria, Khadijat Sheidu-Shabi, said at the event that the number of women in the maritime industry has actually increased from seven per cent 15 years ago to 20 per cent today. In her words, “Over 15 years ago, the percentage was about seven per cent but about today it is about 20 per cent in administrative positions women are there. “What has actually happened is that the male dominates the in the technical sector. We do not have enough of women, I mean like marine engineers , seafarers. We do not have a lot of them on board vessels. We want pilots, want women to drive boats. We do not have enough of them in that technical areas.
