Women must be given a place at the table in Nigeria’s extractive industries, According to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), which has called for greater female participation in the country’s mining sector. In a statement released in Abuja, the organisation called for coordinated efforts to remove obstacles to women’s inclusion and establish worthwhile chances for their active involvement in the industry.
The call was made by Dr. Ogbonnaya Orji, Executive Secretary of NEITI, in his keynote remarks at the 6th Nkechi Isigwe Annual Lecture (NIAL), which was hosted in Abuja by the Association of Professional Women Engineers in Nigeria (APWEN). The head of NEITI, Dr. Dieter Bassi, Director of Policy, Planning, and Strategy, emphasised the critical necessity for intentional measures to promote gender equity in a long-dominant male-dominated field.
“NEITI has given gender equity and inclusion a lot of thought, especially with regard to women. The discussion around women’s involvement in the steel and mining industries is gaining traction on a global scale. According to Orji, a male-dominated sector that restricts women’s access to jobs, training, investments, and decision-making is unsustainable and detrimental.
Orji bemoaned the ongoing gender disparity in Nigeria’s extractive industries while highlighting important employment statistics from NEITI’s newly published 2022 and 2023 Oil and Gas Industry studies. Just 16% of the 8,693 workers in the industry were female in 2023, a minor down from 17% in 2022.
“Despite the general rise in employment, the low proportion of women in the industry represents a substantial gap that needs to be filled. We must provide opportunities for women to fully participate in the extractive industry’s whole value chain,” Orji continued.
He emphasised that if bold, deliberate action is made, women could succeed in mining. “Businesses must implement policies that give gender diversity and inclusion top priority. To motivate the upcoming generation, we need to recognise and honour women leaders in the field,” he stated.
Isigwe, a member of the NEITI National Stakeholders Working Group and the creator of the yearly lecture series, emphasised in her remarks the numerous opportunities for women in the mining, oil, and gas industries as well as the necessity of youth empowerment, especially in light of Nigeria’s young population. Additionally, Dr. Adebisi Osim, the current president of APWEN, called on called on the industry to challenge gender stereotypes and offer more pathways for women to thrive
