By Richards Adeniyi
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms. Hadiza Bala-Usman has urged women in the ports sector to make themselves indispensable by becoming agents of transformation in any position they find themselves.
Speaking during the recent conference of Professional Women in the Maritime and Port sector of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA) in Lagos recently, Usman said it was imperative for women to put in their best in any position they hold within the sector as a way of ensuring that they are always called upon to take on higher responsibilities in future.
Usman noted that women need more opportunities in the sector because only about two percent of the world’s maritime workforce is made up of women according to statistics by the International Transport Workers Federation.
According to the NPA boss, anyone could be given a job randomly but it takes a deliberate action by that person to be a success irrespective of the job specification.
She said: The maritime and port activities in the nation faces a myriad of challenges including corruption, decaying infrastructure and low capacity utilization among others, investments in the sector have remained at an abysmal level despite apparent opportunities; therefore she admonished women in the sector to ensure they make positive impact to alleviate the situation.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Emmanuel Olajide Adesoye also speaking at the event, charged participants to brace up and contribute most meaningfully towards nation building in order that ‘we join the committee of Port Nations in entrusting international best practices’.
Adesoye in his goodwill message at the occasion stated that the variables accruable from the dividends from the Maritime sub-sector are critical instrument that could be utilized in Nation building and opined that all efforts in all activities in the maritime sub-sector should be geared towards the generation of greater revenue in order to impact positively on the Economy.
Similarly, the Chairman enjoined participants at the conference to create more opportunities for others in their fold to be educated and be prepared for taking up challenges in the sub sector.