By Kenneth Jukpor
Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) Nigeria held a virtual conference to mark the 2021 International Women’s Day (IWD) where women agreed to increase mentorship efforts to raise more female professionals in the nation’s maritime sector.
The Vice Chairman, ENL Consortium Ltd., Dr Vicky Haastrup who delivered the lead presentation at the online summit, said that mentorship is key to developing more women professionals in the sector.
Haastrup, who was speaking on the topic: “Women in Leadership: Effective Mentoring in Shipping”, opined that women giving back to women through mentorship would ensure there were no gaps in line of expertise in future.
According to Haastrup, if women are not coached and pulled up, they will suffer particularly in the shipping industry highly dominated by men.
“As women, we must rise up to our challenges in the country and the whole world, reposition ourselves, challenge that stumbling blocks that is limiting us from progressing. We need to mentor ourselves which comes with great responsibility and wisdom so that we do not leave vacuum in the shipping industry already dominated by men.”
“Despite these challenges, women are rising and breaking the glass ceiling, driving each other and this requires creativity, innovation, professionalism and ability to get what they want,” she said.
Haastrup pointed out that a leader should consider mentoring people so as to develop talent pool, create proficient people that could work, help women occupy prominent space in the economy, bridge gaps and retain internal expertise.
She also listed some characteristics of women leaders as being more transformational, not being afraid, function as a role model, provide succor for people, applying soft touch and emphasising team work.
While encouraging top women in the maritime sector to be mentors, she stressed that mentors must be kind, considerate and patient, because mentees vary in their intellectual ability and could be slow in learning.
The ENL boss, however, urged women to learn to brand themselves and share their skills as it would help them to become very fulfilled and enriched in life.
Also speaking at the online conference, the Managing Director, Ocean Deep Services Ltd., Mrs. Rollens Macfoy said that without mentoring, the women representation in the shipping industry which stood at two percent would not increase.
She urged women to build careers in the shipping industry which would further move the percentage forward such as; freight forwarding, vessel registry, seafaring, maritime law, ship owners, shipping agent, divers and others.
“Mentorship is an experience that helps one to guide people to a state of equilibrium or professionalism and so if you are made, you need to learn to pick up,” she said.
Earlier, the President of WISTA-Nigeria, Mrs. Eunice Ezeoke said that women had come a long way in shipping but there was more to be done, hence, the need for mentoring.
According to her, since the glass ceiling is giving way, there is need to sustain it through mentoring which means as one woman is climbing along, she should pull a sister along.
“We need to make our voices heard in the place where decision making takes place. So, women should push forward,” she said.
