The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and Nigeria in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) have agreed to establish an agency to promote the career advancement of women in the two organizations as well as gender equity.
The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, and the Chairman of NiDCOM, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, agreed on the partnership at the NEITI House, Abuja, during a programme to mark the International Women’s Day.
The partnership will cover capacity-building programs, and environmental, gender, social economic development challenges that frustrate women’s career advancement in public service.
Orji described IWD as a very important yearly event for NEITI to join the rest of the world to highlight, identify, and celebrate the valued contributions of women to national development and extractive industries.
In the statement, Orji said, “It is a day to advocate equity, inclusivity, gender justice, wider opportunities for women in the oil, gas and mining sectors in the areas of job opportunities, career advancement and security in work environment.”
The NEITI Executive Secretary underlined that the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) standards, particularly require implementing countries, including Nigeria to promote greater diversity in decision making, document and publicly disclose women participation, gender, social, environmental issues in the extractive industries.
The goal of EITI Reports, he added, was to highlight the risks that women are confronted with in rural host communities where oil, gas and mining exploration take place, document such risks and the remedy required.
Orji lamented that information and data from NEITI reports on women participation in the extractive sector remain quite discouraging. For instance, the 2021 Oil and Gas Industry Report employment data from 56 out of 70 oil companies stated that of 19,171 employees, 15,639 or 82 per cent are men while only 3,532 or 18 per cent of the employees are women. The disclosure is far from the national average of 35 per cent.
From the same gender balance data, top high level management positions in the industry are dominated by men.
Orji announced that to reverse this negative trend, NEITI has created Gender and Environmental Unit in the Policy, Planning & Strategy (PPS) Department.