The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, has stated that the authority will not relent in supporting the rights and equality of all women and girls.
Dantsoho said the agency will also create opportunities for women and girls within and outside the NPA to be empowered to reach the best of their abilities.
In a statement on Friday, Dantsoho stated this in his speech to mark the 2025 International Women’s Day Celebration. This year’s event was themed ‘Accelerate Action for Gender Equality’
He stressed that NPA remains steadfast in participating in the IWD celebration and “also creating systems and structures that promote women’s rights and empowerment in Nigeria.”
Dantsoho added, “NPA has been actively recognising and advocating for women’s rights and equality in the ports. The organisation does not put any limit on the capacity of women and the possibilities available to them.”
According to him, the agency does not see the celebration as another day to pay lip service to women’s rights and economic empowerment; rather, it is a day to reflect on what we have done and commit to doing even more.
He affirmed that the NPA, since its inception, has been very devoted to championing women’s empowerment and gender equality.
Giving details of the agency’s achievements, Dantsoho said that the agency has started the extension of the period of maternity leave for women to six months.
He said the NPA has also ensured that getting pregnant out of wedlock does not stop a woman from getting what is due to her.
“Giving nursing mothers the privilege of reporting for duty one hour after the official resumption time and closing an hour earlier than the official closing time every day. Ensuring that women are in charge of key responsibilities at the authority,” he said.
He said that in addition to leadership roles, Nigerian women are embedded in the different units and arms of the NPA.
“These are just some examples of the ways the NPA has, and is actively recognising and advocating for women’s rights and equality. We do not put any limit on the capacity of women and the possibilities available to them,” he stated.
The NPA boss promised that the agency would remain unrelenting in supporting the rights and equality of all women and girls and practically create opportunities for women and girls within and outside the NPA to be empowered to the best of their abilities.
IWD is a day set aside for recognising and honouring women’s achievements, highlighting the progress made towards achieving gender equality while calling for more efforts towards equitable societies, and advocating for increased laws, policies, and actions that will end gender-based violence and all forms of discrimination against women.
Since 1911, when the first IWD was marked in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland, March 8 and indeed the whole of March has become widely known as Women’s History Month, with individuals and organisations across sectors and nations partaking in its commemoration.
