By Stanley Onyekwere
In order to help bridge the gap in women representation in management cadre of organisations in the society, some stakeholders have advocated for improved inclusive gender representation in workplaces.
They particularly noted the need to continuously widen measures and efforts that fosters inclusive work environment that recognises the rights of everyone irrespective of gender.
They asserted this position at the recent Maiden Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) Branch PENGASSAN Women Commission (PWC) conference, with the theme: “Entrenching Equitable Opportunities For Women Towards Inclusiveness, Innovation And Excellence”, in Abuja.
National Chairperson, PENGASSAN PWC, Comrade Ada Mbanaso, noted that looking at the leadership space for women, the government has been trying, and the National Assembly had promised us a minimum of 30% inclusiveness, but we are yet to attain it.
Mbanaso said: “I don’t think we have gotten to where we are going to, there are still a lot more to be done. And I believe that if more women come on board, there would be a better Nigeria and business environment for everyone.
“Women are good managers and when responsibilities are handed over to them, they take it very seriously and make sure they deliver on it.
Also speaking, Mrs. Rukaiya, Special Adviser on NEC and Climate Change to the President, opined that diversity and inclusion helps as it fosters inclusive work environment, which leads to improved values.
According to her, “People think differently, and the strength lies in the differences, not having everyone being the same. That’s how you breed innovations that bring solutions and excellence.”
Similarly, Comrade Omobale Bello, NUPRC Branch PWC Chairperson, expressed hope that the PWC conference will inspire women towards greater achievements in their chosen careers.
Bello noted that before now, there has been challenges, and looking at the statistics globally, there has been improvement on women representation at the top, we hope for more representation of women at the top.
“The reason for this programme is so that we could raise awareness towards gender representation in management positions and to bring peoples attention towards the gender stereotypes in the work place.
“We hope with this programme we will also be able to inspire people to contribute to the society towards the girl-child education”, she stressed.
For NUPRC PENGASSAN Branch Chairman, Comrade Okey Anya, the conference will help foster discussions even among the NUPRC management, so that more opportunities can be given to the women, to enable them occupy and aspire to be at top positions.
