28032019 - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY LEADERSHIP:All clear for Lawan; fresh crisis brews over Gbaja

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42— Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2019 How INTELS empowers over 1000 women — Freeborn Women training and empowerment is one of the areas Nigerian women are expected to make a difference in life. Based on this, Nancy Freeborn, the Project Head, Women Empowerment Programme Scheme Synergy, WEPSS, a Corporate Social Responsibility Project of Nigeria’s oil and gas logistics giant, INTELS Nigeria Limited, speaks on the duties of the company especially as it relates to the issue of Nigerian women. In this interview, she x-rays how INTELS trained and empowered over 1000 women as well as areas in which INTELS has concluded plans to impact more Nigerian women, especially those in the Niger-Delta region. By Ebunoluwa Sessou WEPSS clocked five recently. Would you say its objectives have been achieved? Yes, they have. This centre was set up in 2013 to empower community women in host communities where INTELS operates. It is a corporate social responsibility of INTELS, so it is their way of giving back to their host communities and the Niger-Delta region at large. The goal from the beginning was to empower 5,000 women over a 20-year period through the acquisition of tailoring skills. So far, we have been able to empower more than 1,000 women, and I would say we are doing great. We try to reach out to people from the grassroots so we go into the communities so that those who really need the skill can apply. Our criteria are that you don’t need so much education. Just be able to read and write. It is like coming from the farm to factory; these are the people we are looking to empower. Every year, we have two training sessions, which last for four and a half months each. The age range for the trainees is between 17 and 45 years. Prior to this time, we used to take in 50 trainees per session; that is 100 trainees in a year. Currently, we take a minimum of 200 trainees every year and that has been ongoing for some years now. The day-to-day running of WEPSS is solely funded by INTELS, down to the smallest needle and the materials we use to train our students. Once the trainees come to WEPSS, they are not only taught the practical aspects of tailoring, there are some theoretical aspects, which they learn. For example, a common part of tailoring that is popping up lately is garment illustration and how to sketch fashion figures. We teach them that here and the basics of sewing; how to use a measuring tape and even get them to run on paper before they begin to sew on actual fabric. The women are taught machine handling; they learn how to use different specialised machines. They are able to sew four basic garments; cut and sew before they leave here. The kind of training our trainees receive here is comparable to international standards. They also get soft skills training on personal hygiene, how to handle their business better when they leave here, social ethics and responsibility. When some of them come here, the way they dress and look isn’t good but at the end of the training, they leave as distinguished ladies who know how to carry themselves. This is because we take the extra time to teach them how to carry themselves. If you do not represent your brand well as a tailor, people will not come and make clothes with you. You have to make nice looking clothes for me to be interested; that is where it starts. When the women have completed their training, we still keep in touch through regular follow-ups. Anytime there is a graduation ceremony, we invite our alumni to come over. We know the progress that they have made and we know who to invite and who to showcase. How would you describe WEPSS’ journey so far? As one of the members of the pioneer set, I got to see this place grow. I came in 2013 as a trainee. At the time we started, this place was practically under construction. I have seen it evolve and grow from being a little training centre to a garment manufacturing factory and then back to a training centre again. About 300 rural women were taken in the pioneer set for the training. We came in several batches because we were many in number. We were trained and retained, all 300 of us, as factory hands to work in our garment producing factory here. Back then, we produced as much as 300 garments daily. These garments - for instance coveralls - were being produced for companies at the Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone. Most of my trainers and cutters were also part of those 300 rural women. When this project started, we were being trained by Indians and Italians. We had a consultant from India. They came, introduced the program to us and left when they were done. INTELS ensured that the knowledge was handed down from the expatriates to us; it is now a core community project because it is handled by people who are from the Niger-Delta region. After I was through with my training; my performance was very good so I had more opportunities for growth. I started as a trainee, became a trainer, then head trainer, production supervisor, head production supervisor, before I finally became project head. I have *Nancy Freeborn learned so much in the process. Every other person you see working at the WEPSS centre was trained here, including the technicians. INTELS has not just only given to the trainees who come here for four and a half months but also to the people who work here. What has your experience as WEPSS Project Head been like? I have worked here as Project Head for seven months. It has been fun; it is just added responsibility, which is fun to handle. It has its ups and downs but that is the beauty of life. Every batch comes with its own peculiarities. Some come here very heady but at the end of the day, we still get them to learn and they leave here happy. At the end of the day, the training is about moulding them in character and in learning. With this particular set of trainees, the biggest challenge was their dressing because we had so many young girls among them. You tell them not to wear something, the very next day; they will do that exact same thing. It was pretty challenging getting them to understand that they were no longer children but ladies who have to carry themselves in such a manner that they can handle a business of their own when they are done with this training. How many sets of trainees has WEPSS graduated since its inception? A total of six; the second set for 2018 graduated a few weeks ago. This set just like the one before it, was very competitive. We have this star chart we create for every assessment; there is a trainee who is the star of that assessment. We can tell how competitive each set has been by looking at how many times a trainee gets to appear as a star on the chart. In this set, we had just one person appear more than once. The rest were knocked off after just one appearance. The best graduating trainee in this last set is 18 years old but we have had a winner in the past that was younger than her. I noticed that this time around, we had a lot of young trainees. Perhaps it is the success of the project that is attracting young women from their various communities to WEPSS. They get to hear of other women who have acquired the skill and are able to do something with it. So many young girls who ordinarily would not have considered the program as something they want to do, are now interested in getting the skill. When our trainees leave here, it doesn’t end there. We keep in touch with them to know how they are doing; we always find a couple of them using the skills to better their lives. A few of the WEPSS alumni came for the last graduation ceremony. I am particularly excited about one of them who graduated in 2017 because she now sews Ankara shoes, bags and accessories with the help of the sewing machine she was given by INTELS. Most of the women would normally focus on clothes but she decided to do something very different. We have also received requests from other fashion designers who ask for some of our trainees to come work for them when they graduate. A friend of mine contacted me recently about starting a garment factory that would produce men’s shirts in Rivers State. He was asking to see if he could hire some of the women here when they complete their training. When such opportunities come, we make them open to our trainees. The younger trainees might still have some aspirations; we don’t discourage them from aspiring for other things but we always encourage them to use the skills they have acquired from WEPSS. Some of them might want to further their education but they don’t have the funds. However, having been trained on fashion designing and tailoring, they can use the skills to fund their education. Family planning does not cause infertility, fibroid — Dr Farouk Jega By Chioma Obinna WORRIED about the myths and misconception surrounding family planning, Country Director of Pathfinder International Nigeria, Dr. Farouk Jega has dismissed insinuation that adopting family planning may cause the development of fibroid and infertility, saying it is safe for all women. The Country Director who threw light on the raging issue during a three-day capacity building workshop on Investigative Journalism organised by the organisation in Lagos said there is no link between them. According to him, family planning does not suggest in any way that a woman should absolutely not have children, rather, it helps a woman space and limit birth to the number of children she can cater for. “There are several studies that have shown that birth spacing for a number of years, at least for a minimum of two years between one pregnancy and the next have a lot of health benefits and none of the studies has shown any relationship with any disease or disorder including fibroid. “What we know is that there is a definite correlation between fibroid developing in the womb and some forms of infertility but that is not to say that it is because the woman refused to have children that the fibroid arose. “It may be the same genetic factors that are responsible for the woman not having children that are also the same factors that are responsible for the fibroid to grow” he stated. Jega explained that millions of women that have taken up family planning never developed fibroid as long as they have had children before and are using family planning either to space or limit the number of children they were having. “There is a strong relationship between fibroid and infertility but there isn’t any correlation between limiting or spacing of children and fibroid,” he argued. Decrying attitude of family planning providers in the country, he said a knowledgeable family planning service provider would make a lot of difference in family planning services. According to him, wellinformed service providers will bring about enormous change towards building trust in the adoption of family planning uptakes in Nigeria. Jega stated that every woman, especially in developing economies like Nigeria deserves quality family planning information irrespective of her age in order to make an informed decision. He said: “Pathfinder International Nigeria believes in provision of quality family planning information for families, and mostly women and there is no coercion on the part of women as far as issues on family planning is concerned.” Jega further encouraged women to have children early in order to avoid having babies with congenital deformities.
Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2019 — 43 Why Nigerian leaders should champion emancipation of women Continues from page 41 than men. When it comes to education, those who top the class in the last 10 years have been the girls. So, if we have that kind of phenomenon, I do not see reason for any government of the day not to explore various avenues of involving more women in different helms of affairs. Government should be able to shun gender discrimination and involve more women. Government should invest in resources to give special incentives for girls to go into the mainstream. We have heard the story of Irene Koki Mutungi, Airline Captain who is a professional pilot in Kenya. The largest economy in the East African Community is Kenya. She was the first female on the African continent to become certified as a captain of the Boeing 787. We also heard about the story of the Nigerian girl, Adeola Ogunmola Sowemimo, the first Nigerian female pilot at Qatar Airways and the first Nigerian female pilot to fly the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. She was a graduate of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Lautech. Stories like these tell you that no one should despise the female. I think government should encourage women to venture into all the sectors and not only in active politics. Special avenues and factors mitigating against women Special avenues should be created for women rather than allowing a few opportunistic women who have nothing to offer in the helm of affairs. Women have talents and they are intellectual naturally, and as such, they would have taken the country to greater heights. Unfortunately, Nigerian mentality has trivialised the talents on the platform of populism. We must ensure that we engage women who have been tested and trusted in other fields including engineering, journalism, Medicine among others. Unfortunately, the set of women in political affairs are those who have not been proven, only that they answer the father’s name and you should expect that the outcome of such political atmosphere would be failure. Where a nation encourages women who have been proven in all aspects of life, you have sanitised the political landscape and such women would be role models. But, as long as you popularise female participation in key areas of development without reference to their backgrounds, the nation is the worse for it. March 8 was celebrated as International Women’s Day and the theme was #BalanceforBetter. You just mentioned some factors mitigating against women emancipation. How would you advise government in ensuring women are balanced? Let me say what worries me about Nigeria. As at today, people who are educated, who have daughters, who are exposed and intelligent are in government and without mentioning a particular name, they know those fundamental things that hinder the *Bode Adediji progress of women. Yet, they have not consciously created programmes, policies, facilities that counter those hindrances. Nigeria is the only place in the world that has no facility to help the disabled. My daughters work abroad and I have been opportune to visit them and find out that every major employer of labour has creche facilities for nursing mothers. In Nigeria, you hardly see companies with facilities to encourage nursing mothers. Secondly, there is no other campaign aside the annual International Women’s Day created by government for fathers to consciously develop awareness on how to shower love on women and the girl-child. Our love should metamorphose into a global campaign for women. There should be a synergy between the religious clans and the government as well as agencies in funding programmes and policies to take women to higher ground. The truth is that the largest number of attendees in churches and mosques are women. The minute we are able to utilise their thinking into practical horizon, By Prince Okafor BASF West Africa, a hair and skin care company in Nigeria, has said that it is targeting Nigerian women with its introduction of an ultra-modern application technology laboratory in the country. Speaking during the official launch in Lagos, the Managing Director, BASF West Africa, Jean Marc Ricca, said that BASF is not prevented by Nigeria’s harsh economic climate, having survived the storms for over 53 years in the country, howbeit, He urged the incoming administration to consider economic wellbeing of the people as foremost by providing an enabling business environment for economic activities to thrive. “Since Africa’s hair is unique and typified by kinks and coils along the hair shaft, an oblique cross- section and fewer cuticle layers than other hair types, making the natural African hair difficult to comb through, and prone to breakage. the nation will benefit. If we do not do that, the country will not only be stagnant but also retrogress. If there is emancipation of women, there will be progress in all spheres of life. Where there is oppression, suppression and depression daily inflicted on women, the result is retrogression. We need women in those areas to transform a country. On March 29, Vanguard will be holding its International Women’s Day Round Table and the theme is “#Redirecting Nigeria’s Future, the Role of Women”. If you would respond to this theme, how do you think Nigeria’s future can be redirected? Women possess hidden powers which they themselves do not know. Therefore, I believe, the question should be directed to women themselves. There are basic questions including who is a Nigerian woman today? What does she stand for? Where is she coming from? Where is she now and where is is she going? Until you are willing to reform yourself through your knowledge and identity, strength, weakness, opportunity and threat and then begin to organise your life to use what you have positively to get what you want, there is no other person that can make it happen. The other aspect is that there are things that women must increase their energy and advocacy upon. There are cultural tragedies and peculiarities in Nigeria and until they are broken, women would be making piecemeal progress that are intangible. We must address that. Although, women are already doing that and I believe that men must collaborate with them on that aspect, there are so many parts of this country that women are treated as chattels. If they were like that hundred years ago, why must they continue on that terrain today? There is another thing that is an epidemic in Nigeria and I do not see women championing that cause. And it is the gap between the rich and the poor. I have not seen any programme in the last three regimes that can claim to have bridged the gap between the rich and the poor. That is why wealth does not transit from the parent to the next generation. Therefore, if women can participate in the struggle to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor, the country will be better off. The other area is that we need to create shock absorber for the less privileged. Today, the kind of shock absorber that Nigerian leaders claim to have created is not real. We should know that businesses collapse in America on a daily basis and other ones are created. But, Nigerians would rather castigate anyone whose business collapses in this country. People would call you all sorts of names because you can no longer run your business. Nigerians also call someone who borrows and is unable to pay a criminal. So, women must look in this direction such that those women who venture into entrepreneurship can thrive. If we continue to change political parties ten thousand times without addressing the fundamentals, there would be no progress. The other area is the failure of men to join hands for the emancipation of Nigerian In the last 15 years, I have not seen any policy or programme by government that promotes emancipation of women and that is a dangerous BASF targets Nigeria women with hair, skin technology Customers’ satisfaction, our goal — Aderenle Edwards By Chris Onuoha Anew styling boutique and one stop salon and spa for women, men and children, ‘Nzuri Indulge’ has berthed. The posh and luxurious salon situated on a serene and cozy environment at 73 Omon Ebhomenye Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos was unveiled weekend. The new place of indulge for discerning personalities was declared open by the founder and Chief Executive Officer, Aderenle Edwards who personally took guests around the penthouse “These challenges has necessitated a tailored care regimen to maintain healthy hairs with specialty products such as polymers, emollients, surfactants, emulsifiers, protein products, lipid layer enhancer and others. “As a supplier of chemical products, we remain resolute and auspicious to our commitment in working with all our stakeholders in the supply value chain to take care of African hairs and skins especially Nigeria, thus; we look forward to better economic environment to thrive,” Ricca added. Also, the vice president, BASF West Africa, Mr. Dirk Mampe, said: “Customised solutions meeting the specific requirements of consumers in different markets are key for business growth. “With our broadened presence and the investment in a new Application Laboratory in sub-Saharan Africa, we can provide on-site technical expertise and market insights to our customers and support the local development of tailor-made products for the specific needs of African hair and skin,” he said. woman. A sincere government must create a transition period to achieve that. They must be able to set aside an agenda for women in the next four years which everybody must champion. It must be a collective effort by all and sundry. In the last 15 years, I have not seen any policy or programme by government that promotes emancipation of women and that is a dangerous. Thirdly, I believe there are organisations that should play a major role in the emancipation of women but I doubt if we have many of them focusing in that direction. I believe there are many foundations in Nigeria. Therefore, it is pertinent to know the percentage of their resources committed to the emancipation of women. And we need a leader that can drive these organisations for the emancipation of women so that young girls in primary and secondary schools can begin to have a rethink on the need to be relevant in their worlds. These children would understand the importance of becoming great in life and be responsible. Today, the only persons you see on the front pages of newspapers are the politicians and that is the degree to which our media has degenerated. *Pamela Shodipo, Aderenle Edwards, Mrs Rita Unuigboje of UBA, Mrs Teni Giwa Osagie. facility center housing the spa. Guests comprising influential personalities, captains of industry and look good indulgers were treated to a refreshing outing with surplus wine and small chops, while some had a feel of the spa, makeup and hair styling touch. Children were not left out as some had their hair treated. The new spa center houses many segments that include hair dressing and styling, nail care, makeup, children salon, barbing salon, facial and body treatment segments. Speaking, the founder, Aderenle Edwards said: “At Nzuri, we are passionate about providing our guests with the ultimate indulgent experience and are committed to promoting a wholesome lifestyle with harmony and balance. We have carefully chosen our products to offer only professional ranges at the salon and at the spa we use and sell only pure, high quality, result-oriented, high performance and freshly blended products that are 100 per cent natural made by our inhouse consultant and skin care formulator. We are just as careful in choosing our stylists, technicians and therapists, hiring only those who are competent, eager to serve and are passionate about their craft to be a part of our team. Our services are focused upon nurturance and health as well as beauty and pampering”, concludes Edwards.
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28032019 - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY LEADERSHIP:All clear for Lawan; fresh crisis brews over Gbaja

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