Boss of Nigerian Gas Company Advocates Women Empowerment
This women need empowerment
By Christopher Odamah, Warri
WARRI: The Managing Director of the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC), Mr. Sadiu Mohammed, has stressed the need to give priority attention to the training and empowerment of women in order to enable them become self-reliant and self-employed.
Mohammed, who made the remarks at a women empowerment workshop cum start-up kits presentation ceremony at the company’s headquarters in Warri, Delta State, noted that corporate responsibility services to oil producing communities would be incomplete without the empowerment of women in those areas.
He said that the NGC could not successfully carry out its invaluable corporate functions to Nigeria particularly in the energy sector without the cooperation of numerous communities in spread across its area of operation, noting that the place of women in this was invaluable.
Empowering women by the NGC is therefore in the interest of all Nigerians who benefit directly or indirectly from the services of the company as the sole supplier of industrial and domestic gas in the country, he noted.
He said that improvements in small scale businesses would greatly enhance growth in the nation’s tottering economy, saying the need to empower women in Delta State with relevant training and tools of trade advised the inauguration of this NGC’s initiative last year.
Mohammed, further said that the initiative was in tandem with the human capital development programme of the Delta State Government and expressed delight that “the journey so far has proved positive.”
Also speaking, Delta State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Chief (Mrs.) Betty Efekoda, who represented Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, urged other corporate organizations operating in the state to emulate the NGC’s initiative by “stretching a helping hand” especially to less-privileged women in the state.
Efekoda said the training and starter packs was a “commendable effort by the NGC to at least reduce poverty in our society”, which was complementary to the Uduaghan government’s development agenda.
The commissioner charged the beneficiaries drawn from Warri South, Udu, Warri South-West, Uvwie and Okpe local government areas to be businesslike and make integrity their watchword in order to successfully utilize the opportunity offered them by NGC.
Similarly, the NGC Public Affairs Manager, Mrs. Comfort Adepoju, described the women empowerment programme as “fait accompli” and advised the beneficiaries to take advantage of the opportunity by putting the start-up kits to optimal use.
