… Says action will encourage more women to take up career in maritime industry
A member of the Governing Council of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), Princess Chi Ezeh has applauded the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for recognizing the contributions of women in the maritime industry globally which in turn has translated to setting aside a day to celebrate them.
It will be recalled that the Head, Africa Section, IMO, William Azuh while delivering a goodwill message at the just concluded IMO/Abuja MoU Workshop for Heads of Maritime Administrations in West and Central Africa Region in Lagos, Nigeria had announced that the global maritime body would celebrate the first International Day for Women in Maritime on the 18th May, 2022.
Reacting to the development in a chat with newsmen in Lagos, Princess Ezeh described it as a welcome development as well as a very good avenue to encourage more women to get involved in taking up careers in the maritime industry world over.
While pointing out that the maritime industry was currently dominated by men, she recalled that in the last CRFFN Governing Council election, she won the the highest number of votes and became the only elected female member of the Governing Council which she said she was not comfortable with because the industry was very large such that more women were needed in the system.
According to her, “Of course, we all know that women are better managers. There are lots of things happening in the system. I think setting aside a day to celebrate women in maritime is a very good avenue to encourage more women to join the industry because me as a woman, I like to be celebrated, likewise other women, they like to be celebrated and once they hear that a day has been set aside to celebrate women in maritime, it will encourage them knowing that our little efforts are being acknowledged.
“I think it’s a very good idea and a welcome development to celebrate women in maritime for which I will even like to participate.”
Speaking on efforts to bring in more women to pursue careers in the maritime industry, particularly in the freight forwarding subsector, Ezeh believed that education had a lot of role to play in this direction even as she argued that bringing young ladies and using them as Administrative Secretaries and Personal Assistants and so on was not really the best way to encourage them.
“I think that the best thing we need to do for them, especially as members of CRFFN Governing Council is to create a window for them to go for trainings and get knowledge because if they get knowledge, they will be empowered to work on their own.
“When I joined the industry, nobody accepted to train me till today. My getting to this level is an act of God, even the people that I am supposed to work under, the people who are supposed to show me the way, they did not. I have to leave them and look for somebody that didn’t even know me to put me through. In terms of going to lectures and trainings, I personally went for training myself.
“I am just advising the women to be hardworking, stand up on their own and go for what they want rather than folding their hands and assuming that they will not make it in a male dominated environment. If they are being trained, they will be exposed to the potentials inherent in the profession.
“I believe that the CRFFN is in a better position to assist the women freight forwarders to be trained. Once they are trained and they know what they want, of course, it’s a very big opportunity for them to achieve their lifetime goals.
“The young female freight forwarders supposed to understand themselves, think broad on how they can push themselves forward in a male dominated environment like the maritime industry. It’s in them, it’s for them to decide to unlock their inherent potentials. I have already told you my experience when I came into the industry, some people would not want to let you to grab the nitty-gritty of the industry, they would rather prefer to be doing your jobs for you.
“So, my advice to them is for them to make use of their brains and work hard, then go for personal development trainings, they don’t need to wait for anybody to train them”, she said.
When reminded that attending trainings was not enough to help the women find their bearing in freight forwarding profession as they also require capital to start off, she said, “I don’t think they really need capital. It’s not capital intensive, it’s all about working hard. You don’t need to start with an office, after training, once you understand the job, the next thing is for you to work hard, meet people. You don’t need to pay someone for him to give you Job.
“Based on your trainings, once you get to any office and you are able to defend yourself, you have to make them understand that you know what you are doing. You don’t need to pay clients for them to give you job. Training is number one, once you understand what you are doing, you can defend a job even more than the “big man” can do. It’s all about knowing your onions, you may go there today and you did not succeed, tomorrow you can go back, it’s all about being persistent. It doesn’t really need money. People will give you money to do the job.”
On providing professional guidance and advice for them as they grow on the job, Princess Ezeh who is the Managing Director/CEO of Muna-Sylva Limited had this to say, “In the field, there are lots of freight forwarders. The major issue is for you to get the document, if you have a document to work with, that your document will equally train you because in the field, you will see people that you will ask questions. The main thing is for you to get your client which you don’t need money to do, the only thing you need is grace and favour of God to succeed in the job.”
On the possibility of using her membership of the CRFFN Governing Council to influence subsidizing the cost of training for women in the freight forwarding subsector, she opined that the decision to subsidize the cost of training for women lied with the federal government as it was way above them as Council members.
Her words, “I don’t think that we as Council members have the power to do so. I believe we have the Nigeria Institute of Freight Forwarding (NIFF). Government has done well by providing the institute. We will also know how to push government to subsidize the cost of training for women. On my own, I always talk to them, we can organize a workshop for them not really going for the training proper and talk to them.
“Bringing women together in this industry is not easy because I have been talking to them. You will see one today, she will show interest, tomorrow, you will not see her again. We have women in NAGAFF, we bring them closer, we talk to them through that means also. It’s an opportunity for us to reach out and talk to them also. But you know, naturally, women believe that this freight forwarding is for men, that is their mindset but we are trying to disabuse that mindset.”
Photo: Princess Chi Ezeh, Managing Director/CEO, Muna-Sylva Limited and member, CRFFN Governing Council.
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