By Kenneth Jukpor
Mrs. Anna Akpan is an Assistant Director of Shipping Development at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA). She is also the Secretary of Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) Nigeria. During a recent maritime stakeholders’ summit, she sat with MMS Plus correspondent to discuss the evolvement of women in the nation’s maritime sector, highlighting their contributions as well as other prospects for women in the sector. Mrs. Akpan also gave insight into the activities of WISTA and reveals the objectives of the 2018 WISTA Nigeria business luncheon.
Excerpts:
You’re an Assistant Director at NIMASA and Secretary of WISTA Nigeria. As a woman, how has the experience been and what does WISTA represent in the maritime industry?
You know the objectives of WISTA. We are the voice of women in maritime and shipping industry. We try to ensure that the rights and concerns of women are well driven and protected. Through WISTA, we have had several women play significant roles in management positions across various government agencies as well as the private sector. In NIMASA, we have four departments that are headed by women such as the Finance department, Research department, Administrative department and the Investigative Unit of the Search and Rescue department. The Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside also recently appointed a woman, Mrs. Nneka Obianyor as the head of Ship Registry; you can imagine such massive opportunity given to a woman. I can assure you that there is going to be a turn-around in that department because we are all aware of the skills that she possesses.
Let me also use this opportunity to say a very big thank you to the Director General who has been an immense support to women in the agency. He continues to give women the platform to excel on administration and also guides women to ensure they get the desired results. Those of us who have been given the opportunity have resolved that we would continue to be resourceful, diligent and ensure that all the International Maritime Organization (IMO) conventions are fully implemented. We would also continue to abide by the rules and regulations of NIMASA as we thrive to make the agency more relevant and result-oriented for the benefit of the sector and the nation at large.
Looking at the number of female bigwigs we have in the maritime sector, how would you appraise the contribution of women across board for women?
I may not have the comprehensive data for the number of women in the sector or at least those who have risen to managerial status in several aspects of the maritime industry. However, I must say that there is an appreciable volume of women who play significant roles in the dictates of maritime activities and contribute immensely to the development of the nation’s maritime sector. The Nigerian Chamber of Shipping (NCS) is being headed by a woman as the Director General, Mrs. Obiageli Obi. As a woman you can look at the maritime sector and be encouraged to find eminent personalities like the Principal Counsel, Jean Chiazor & Co. (Ofianyi Chambers) Barr. Jean-Chiazor Anishere, who is a former President of WISTA; the Chairperson, Ship-Owners Forum, Barr. Margaret Orakwusi; the former Director General of NIMASA, Barr. Mfon Usoro, among others. These are women who have contributed to the growth of the nation’s maritime sector.
At Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Managing Director is a woman, Ms. Hadiza Bala-Usman and you can see the modest achievements she has brought in to the organization in such a short time. You also have several women occupying significant positions at the Authority such as Hajia Ali-Ibrahim who is the Port Manager of the nation’s biggest port, Apapa port.
What advice would you offer young Nigerian women who may be considering picking up careers in maritime as well as the young women already in the sector?
The reason we have mentees in WISTA is because we recognize the fact that there is a need to bring in the younger generation and tutor them about the sector. The maritime industry is one that has enormous opportunities for several vocations as well as careers. There is need to have a succession plan because some of us will be retiring soon and most of the nation’s maritime amazons nation’s we enumerated earlier would also be retiring. Hence, there is the need to equip the younger women with information, network and the right skill-set to ensure that they not only fill the vacuum but make more significant contribution to the growth and development of the maritime industry.
During most WISTA meetings we invite these young ones to give them opportunity to get acquainted with the issues in the sector and learn while they grow in their respective disciplines. The upcoming WISTA annual luncheon which comes up this week also avails young women another opportunity because we have plans to groom our mentees during that event. We want to be certain that there would be no gap or vacuum when it comes to the contributions of women to the sector when most of us retire.
With the 2019 general elections coming up soon, do you envisage any woman emerging to spring surprises by getting a gubernatorial seat or the presidency?
We wish women could attain something significant at the upcoming polls. Women have what it takes to rule this country and we long to occupy such significant positions you enable us contribute to the growth of the nation and display a peculiar brand of leadership that is all-inclusive, transparent, accountable and result-oriented. It has been proven that women put in all their intellectual and physical energies into whatever task they are given. They ensure that they do their obligations effectively and efficiently in order to achieve the objectives.
Women have also proven to be better managers of resources and people. Peradventure there is a woman coming out for any of these positions, all women would stand behind her to give her whatever support she needs to ensure she is successful at the polls. We would also be quick to support her when she eventually gets the position because we believe in the innate qualities of a woman.
What are the objectives of the upcoming 2018 WISTA Nigeria business luncheon?
We use the programme as an educational tool because it gives us the opportunity to enlighten the public about the association. People get to know what we do both in the country as well as at the international level. WISTA International has over three thousand members in forty-five countries around the world and the body is still expanding. WISTA isn’t just a Nigerian affair; WISTA Nigeria is a only a chapter of the WISTA International.
We also use the programme to appreciate and celebrate our past leaders who have contributed to the growth of the association and made efforts to support women in the industry. We also project the activities in the sector and explain opportunities for women across various segments of the industry. It is also an opportunity to guide our mentees. We use the Go-To-Sea campaign that IMO inititated to groom the young women on issues about maritime. When you say someone is a seafarer, he or she doesn’t necessarily have to be a nautical engineer or a deck officer. A hairdresser onboard a vessel is a seafarer because she must have acquired the right certificate to enable her go onboard. A caterer onboard as well as a nurse onboard is also a seafarer.
There are so many areas for women to be engaged in the maritime industry. At WISTA, we would continue to admonish young women to explore these opportunities. We call the campaign, ‘Catch Them Young’.
The business luncheon next week would have the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi present and chairman of the occasion would be the Chairman of Integrated Oil and Gas Ltd, Capt. Emmanuel Ihenacho. We would also be launching a special magazine with the Managing Director of NPA, as the cover. As usual you can expect the maritime bigwigs to be there because the Minister would be there.
