The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Ms. Hadiza Bala-Usman has urged women in the ports sector to make themselves indispensible by becoming agents of transformation in any position they find themselves.
The Managing Director who was speaking during the recent conference of Professional Women in the Maritime and Port sector of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA) in Lagos recently, 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.
In her words, “someone once said that there is no better way to reward yourself than doing the things that people say you cannot do the truth is that until recently the world had put a ceiling on the capacity of women for effectiveness and I think the only reason this perception is beginning to change is because over the past couple of years see women in who have done incredibly great things even at the global level this is what I recommend to us members of PMAWCA. Let us by what we do show what we can do.”
Noting that 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’.
Emmanuel Adesoye who made the ethical statement 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.
He 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.
According to him the place of greater operational efficiency in Maritime operations cannot be over emphasized thus, the need to strive to always do more at all times. He charged the Women Maritime professionals to stand up and be counted in this regard.
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. He said this is another avenue abound in order to stimulate the economy to growth.
He called on female professionals in the subsector to synergize with the multiplicity of groups and professional bodies towards synthesizing effectively new trends in technology and Innovation aimed at the development of the country and the sub region at large.
The conference is an effort of (PMAWCA) at harnessing the large potentials in sub sector in the sub region especially from the female professional.
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