| The group, Women in Energy Oil & Gas (WEOG), rose from its executive council in Lagos last Thursday with a resolution to give priority to mentorship, advocacy, training and capacity building to women.The group said its focus is in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UN SDG) 05 – Gender equality. President of the group and Chief Executive Officer of Blackgold Authorities and Advisory Consult, Dr. Dunni Owo, said mentorship, advocacy, training and capacity building would stimulate and enhace WEOF activities and operations in the energy sector in Nigeria.She said Nigerian women are talented and need to take their place and contribute significantly toward the development of the industry. In her goodwill message, Engr. Joanna Maduka, an industry veteran, former Executive Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), “There are many persons, who have done very well as lawyers, IT professionals and accountants in the oil and gas space. We cannot do without our men because they trained most of us.“The world has moved and we are now looking at diversity. How is the girl child going to succeed in a male dominated profession? Regardless of what we say, the profession is still dominated by men. By information, the percentage of women in the oil and gas industry is about 15% – quite a small percentage, and at the management level, they are even less at about 10%; and at the very top, very few,” she said, noting rather sadly that the first ever female CEO in the oil and gas space was appointed in 2016.“The main obstacle we have sometimes is ourselves. You will find that women do not support women to rise in many cases. This is a challenge that we have to accept and find solution to. Women generally have a way of pulling each other down.“We always talk about work and life balance. As much as possible, we still try to manage work and life balance. It is very difficult. If you are in the oil & gas sector as a woman, you’ll find that you’re working more than your male counterparts to succeed,” she saidThe Managing Director/CEO, AFTRAC Limited, Mrs. Patricia Simon Hart, stressed the need for women to understand the businesses they go into in order to succeed. In her own address, Managing Director/CEO, Nozie Limited, Mrs. Noxie Oyewole, added: “We need one another. As women, we need to go for whatever business that we need.” ReplyReply allForward |
By Chibisi Ohakah
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