NCDMB aims to close gender gap in oil sector

THE Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Wabote, has expressed his commitment to exponentially increase women participation in the oil and gas industry with the aim to close gender gap in the oil and gas sector.

Speaking at a workshop for women in oil and gas industry, with the theme, “Mainstreaming Women In The Oil And Gas Industry”, Wabote cited a recent study by the Global Energy Talent Index Report which categorically declared that there is a chronic shortage of women in the oil and gas industry.

According to Wabote, “it is estimated that women occupy about 50 per cent of non-technical positions at entry level compared to only 15 per cent of technical and field role positions, adding that gender diversity decreases with seniority with only a tiny proportion of women in executive positions. The percentage of women in the industry drops over time from 36 per cent to 24 per cent between the middle and executive level.”

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Wabote stated that the agency has recognised the unique challenges faced by women in the oil and gas industry and would take advantage of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act to reverse the trend.

“Looking at some of the challenges such as career advancement, untapped talents, gender imbalance and limited presence of women in technical roles encountered by women in the oil and gas industry, I would like to believe that there is a glimmer of hope in the sector.

“The energy policies we establish today will affect the investment and innovations of tomorrow and those technologies will help determine the economic growth and individual opportunities for future generations,” he stated.

He expressed NCDMB’s determination to play the role in human capacity development, stressing that part of the Board’s strategy for implementing the NOGICD Act is development and implementation of its capacity development initiatives.

“Our capacity building interventions includes deepening indigenous capabilities in the areas of human capital development, infrastructure & facilities, manufacturing, and local supplier development. We have taken specific steps to train maritime cadets, secondary school teacher, agricultural entrepreneurs, pilots, IDPs training in different crafts, technicians, engineers, and environmentalists with over six million training man-hours delivered.

“We also have capacity building centers embedded in the design of our Nigerian Oil and Parks Scheme as part of our contribution to the development of infrastructure in the country,” he said.

Wabote however said that another study, estimates that nearly 1.9 million opportunities are projected in the oil and gas industry by 2035 with women occupying 185,000 of total jobs opportunities.

In her remark, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala-Usman, urged young girls to take interest in science subjects to help make unhindered entry into the industry.

She however advised that industry operators and institutions should adjust procedures that entrench gender imbalances in employment for local content to be meaningful to both women and men.

Bala-Usman argued that investment in girls/women education in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is quite an imperative strategy and that such capacity building is not event based, but enquires a long time plan.

She noted that affirmative action in energy policies is also an empowering strategy that can be used to expand women’s access to boardroom spaces where energy decisions are made, enabling them to overcome the constraints to their participation in decision-making in big businesses and energy-based enterprises.