The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has renewed its call for a deliberate policy to broaden women participation in the oil, gas and mining industries.
The Executive Secretary, NEITI Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, made this call in a statement released signed by Mrs.Obiageli Onuorah, the
Head, Communications and Advocacy, in commemoration of the International Women’s Day, and made available to journalists in Abuja.
Dr Orji expressed regret that in spite of the enormous potentials and capacity of Nigerian women in skills acquisition, sound education especially in the mining and geo-sciences, the oil gas and mining industries are still being wrongly perceived as business for men.
The NEITI Executive Secretary further remarked ” A close look at data on gender from the NEITI’s last Solid Minerals Independent Industry Reports shows that out of 102 companies covered by NEITI process, only 29 companies provided information and data on gender participation and employment opportunities in relation to women. And from the report, out of the 5,820 employees, only 14% of them were women.
Dr Orji further disclosed that in the Oil and gas industry, the ratio of men to women in terms of investments participation, job opportunities and beneficial ownership of oil and gas assets are even worse.
The NEITI Executive Secretary, reaffirmed the commitment of the Agency to work with women to remove structural barriers that impede women, girls, and other vulnerable groups from participating in sustainable natural resource management and other potential gender impacts of extractive activities.
Already, many notable non-governmental organisations have been identified as key allies to NEITI to drive the process. They are Women in Extractive, Women in Mining in Nigeria, Association of Professional Women Engineers in Nigeria (APWEN) and the National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ). Others include Extractive 360, Spaces for Change, Centre for Transparency and Accountability, CSR-in-Action, Kabetkache Women Development and Resource Centre amongst others. These are organizations in the sector, driven by reputable Women with track records gathered overtime in the extractive sector reforms and governance.
The Executive Secretary announced that NEITI has just concluded a scoping research study on enhancing gender equity and inclusiveness in managing the country’s diverse extractive sector and the environmental impact to women and their livelihoods.
The study focused on the impact of mining in our communities through the prism of gender inclusivity and impact.
The Research also looked at the employment opportunities, ownership structure and the implications for decision making and benefit sharing for women in the mining industry.
The two reports are to be released before the end of the Month” Dr Orji, further disclosed.
The NEITI Executive Secretary, while saluting the courage, sacrifice and valued contribution of Nigerian women, urged women across the country to take interests in the NEITI reports and use the contents to demand a just, fair and active gender equity in natural resource governance in Nigeria.
He remarked “except women are involved and understand the contents of the reports and the values that brings to pushing the boundaries of opportunities in favour of women, through information and data, there cannot appreciate the need to use information and data in NEITI reports to hold the government, companies and the larger society accountable”.
The international Women Day which is celebrated annually on March 8 raises attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women. The Theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”.
