By Eberechi Obinagwam
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, (PENGASSAN), has called for a rise in challenge against repressive systems as Nigeria is being ranked 128 out of 153 countries in Global Gender Gap Index overall, and 27th out of 34 countries in sub-Saharan Africa by the Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2020.
President, Comrade Festus Osifo in a statement while commiserating with women as they celebrate International Women’s Day says: “This year’s IWD theme: ‘Choose to Challenge’ invites all of us for a rise in the challenge against repressive systems and archaic laws, customs and practices that discriminate against women, either through gender-based prohibitions and limitations or through lack of inclusion in ensuring certain rights and liberties,”.
Analysing the results that led to the findings, he said that female have approximately 14% representation in key commercial/ business management roles; and in political leadership representation, female are about 3.4%, (Parliament) and 8% (Ministerial).
Also in terms of occupations, they hold only approximately 30% of senior positions even though women represent 64.6% of skilled professionals.
He said, despite the above, only about 52.6% of women are literate; and of approximately 58% of girls who get primary education, 47% go on to get a secondary education, while only about 8.3% get a university degree.
Explaining further, he said: “These systems that we seek to reform are sometimes enshrined in national and state laws and occasionally propagated by societal standards and expectations, and we have a duty to recognise these when we see them and speak up against them at every opportunity.
” Beyond speaking, we must also take deliberate steps, through legislative, social lobbying and engagements, to bring about broad-based legal reform that will ensure that women across all industries and within our society are given the same opportunities as their male counterparts,”.
Adding that some of these laws, which may have been enacted in a bid to protect women (reflecting societal customs at the time), serve to deny them of key opportunities in today’s world, emphasizing the need to challenge the status quo, reiterating the need for change.
” In the words of Nigerian-born, world-renowned multi-award-winning author, Chimamanda Ngozi-Adichie, “Culture does not make people, People make culture. If it is true that the full humanity of women is not our culture, then we can and must make it our culture.
“PENGASSAN, under our leadership, aligns with the African adage that says, “If you educate a man, you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation. We are favourably committed to doing our part in ensuring gender parity and fairness in the Oil and Gas industry and indeed the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.
Pointing out their parts so far, he said several years ago, in acknowledgement of the need for diverse representation, inclusivity and progressiveness in the Industry, and particularly, the significant improvements made by women across all industries, they created the role of “Chairperson, Women in PENGASSAN (WIP)” in all the organs as they also sought to ensure an avenue which encourages dialogue and resolutions on key issues that impact female industry workers, a subject he said that has hitherto been somewhat side-lined, due to the predominance of the male gender in the Industry.
