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| COO Starzs Investments Coy Ltd., Iroghama Ogbeifun-Obuoforibo |
Starzs Investment Company Ltd has intentionally created
a platform for growth for women pursuing careers in the maritime industry in
Nigeria. And Chief Operating Officer of the company, Iroghama
Ogbeifun-Obuoforibo, simply feels fulfilled and excited as she shares the
company’s story of empowering women in the sector.
What constitutes
sustainable support for women in the maritime industry?
women empowerment and the importance of the role that women can play
progressing development regarding the maritime industry and maybe the world at
large.
involvement in seafaring. And now, the World Maritime Day is focusing on how we
can create more opportunities, and how we can empower women so that they can do
more. We know that they can do more if they are given that chance.
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Charity, they say begins at home, so, let me start with
what we are doing in Starzs, where I work. There is a focus of giving specific
opportunities to women. There is a deliberate intention to ensure that women
have an even-playing ground to operate. For example, our pay structure does not
discriminate against women. Our pay structure considers “who is the right
person, man or woman, for the job.” So, regardless of being a man or a woman,
as long as you are bringing that value to the table, we will consider you and
you will earn as much as anybody else on that job group. We do not discriminate
as regards that. Also, we have a very strong sexual harassment policy in our
organisation. When any woman joins the organisation, I make sure that I have a
one-on-one session with them, as a top female executive in the company. And my
HR General Manager, also being a female, we give them that opportunity to pass
on our value system as regards protection of women’s rights in the workplace.
We let them know that regardless of who it is; the Cleaner, the Manager, the Chairman,
the Board Director, we do not care. We do not support sexual harassment of
women and they have a right. They have a voice and they have a platform to
complain without fear of prejudice or discrimination against them. That is
another thing that we do.
developmental opportunities, considering the women?
talk about our training scheme. For that scheme, opened to both men and women,
we have an extreme focus to ensure that we have female cadets participating in
every batch that we take on. So, when we go to Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN)
Oron, for example, and we are requesting for cadets, we specifically say that
we want to receive female cadets. So we have a set quota to ensure we have the
number.
pleasantly surprised at the number of female cadets that have followed through
with the scheme. But, what we do is that we are not discouraged by that
percentage. I think that the discussions around what impedes or inhibits them
is a discussion for another day, to see how we can also further support to
encourage and increase that number of
success. But, we still leave these opportunities open.
a third engineer onboard one of our boats right now. She just got her second
from Regional Maritime University in Ghana. She came to us as a Cadet, who
finished from MAN, Oron as well. She completed her seatime and went back,
passed her CoC and came onboard as an officer. She had worked and got seatime
eligibility to go on training to be a second engineer and she has just passed
the exams and she is going to be a second engineer.
about three months off to go do the courses and everything. I told my people
that while she would be away they could only employ a temporary third engineer
who would hold brief for her, and as soon as she finishes her course , she
comes back to meet her job waiting for her .That is how much of an intentional
effort we make. It might look like “is it fair?” Yes, if we are going to
empower women we need to be a bit extra in giving them that opportunity,
because the men just walk in to it. So, for that female engineer, she was
guaranteed that her job was waiting for her while she was in school. There was
no fear of saying “Oh, I have gone to pursue my opportunity and I am going to
lose my job.’ For me, that spoke volumes for her confidence. That was one good
success story.
at how we can contribute our own quota to ensuring that we go out of our way to
seek to encourage female cadets , to guarantee them that we have a career path
, a platform for them. Even if you want to come off a vessel, we chart a path
for them, to say when you attain a level in the career sailing, you are still
of great value to us in the office. We even encourage them on kinds of courses
they can take on their time off that can make them more eligible to work in the
office. At the end of the day, they are confident of sailing for a period and
still come back relevant in the office to do other things.
make their presence felt in the agenda of things happening in the industry?
maritime industry there are women, especially maritime lawyers, who are taking
that bold step to see how they can make their voices heard in the industry, in
whatever little way.
industry for decades, who have broken the glass ceiling, smash it completely in
their various fields. So, I think that
women need to rise and recognise their power and not having to wait for someone
to give us the power and tell us that we have it. When we realise that we have
it, then we take charge of that power and step forward. Instead of waiting, no,
come and sit down. Don’t wait to be given a seat, grab a chair and sit down. I
don’t want the situation where the essence is swallowed by the ‘women’
narrative. I am an individual who is growing my value proposition and who has
something of value to bring to the table. Based on that, I am grabbing this
chair and am adding to the discourse of whatever it is, if it is policy
formulation, policy driving, implementation or enforcement, I have something to
say. While we talk of women empowerment, we women need to empower ourselves. We
need to rise up and speak!
