NUPENG 2021 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY MESSAGE
PRESS STATEMENT
The National leadership of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) is profoundly pleased to join all women in commemorating the 2021 edition of International Women’s Day.
Year after year, March 8 is celebrated as the International Women’s Day the world over. This is a day primarily set aside to celebrate and offer credence to the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women, while also highlighting the problems they face in day-to-day life as well as in their professional callings and workplace. The day also marks as a call to action for accelerating gender parity.
This year, International Women’s Day is being specially marked to highlight the challenges brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic just as it rightfully came with the theme, ‘Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world, #ChooseToChallenge.’
NUPENG and all its organs as well as branches in both formal and informal sectors are deeply pained by the devastation covid-19 brought to the world, leaving women and the girl-child as worst casualties with many of them as victims of sexual abuses, discrimination, job lose/unemployment and other violent crimes.
It is our joy however that nations and employers of labour are gradually recovering from this traumatic and destructive pandemic which brought the entire globe to its knees.
Although it is not yet uhuru, but it is equally our hope and believe in this regime of ‘new normal’ that Governments across board, NGOs, Labour Centres and theirs affiliates and other stakeholders will chat a new course by putting an end to the exclusion and marginalization of women and girls and this must be urgently backed with affirmative actions in our relevant statute books.
With no further delay, women deserve the legitimate and constitutional rights to advance a full role in shaping the pivotal decisions being made right now as countries respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic especially with the advent of the vaccine; choices that will affect the wellbeing of people and the planet for generations to come will no doubt be a responsibility they could shoulder seamlessly.
For us in NUPENG we strongly believe that this is the moment to uphold women’s achievements, recognize challenges, and focus greater attention on women’s rights and gender equality to mobilize all people to do their part.
The Beijing Platform for Action focuses on 12 critical areas of concern, and envisions a world where each woman and girl can exercise her choices, such as participating actively in politics, taking leadership positions in trade unionism, law enforcement agencies, getting an education and relevant training, having a decent income, and living in societies free from fear, violence and discrimination.
To do this effect, all hands must be on deck to break down the deep-seated historic, cultural, and socio-economic barriers that prevent women from taking their seat at the decision-making table to make sure that resources and power are more equitably distributed devoid of prejudice, bias or favouritism. Thankfully NUPENG is already taking an enviable lead in empowering women within our folk in a more decent and professional manner.
Once again, we sincerely wish our virtuous and quintessential women happy International Women’s Day.
Our solidarity remains constant for the Union makes us strong.
SIGNED:
COMRADE WILLIAMS AKPOREHA,
NATIONAL PRESIDENT OF NUPENG,
COMRADE AFOLABI OLAWALE,
GENERAL SECRETARY OF NUPENG.