Mary Madu Hamman, is Assistant Director Shipping Development at NIMASA and President of Women International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) Nigeria. In this interview with Anozie Egole, she talked about what the association has done so far to improve the Nigerian maritime industry; especially the womenfolk, she also talked about the difference between WISTA and other female associations in the Nigerian maritime industry.
Tell us a bit about WISTA and who is eligible to be a member?
This association is all about women in the management position in the maritime industry; like the lawyers, ship owners, and some educators because we have some women in MAN Oron, who are also our members. Some of their members who are females are also our members we also have women in Customs, Immigrations anybody that has anything to do with shipping can be a member, the person must be from the top management staff.
Obviously WISTA is an international organization….
When you say WISTA, it is Women International Shipping and Trading Association, so it is an international association and Nigeria is a branch. I am the president of the Nigerian branch of the association; we have WISTA in about 43 countries. And because Nigeria is big like the US, we have some chapters here, like we have in Uyo, Port Harcourt and Abuja where we can reach out to other women in trading. So it does not have to be maritime only because women in clearing and forwarding are part of us, also big time women who are exporters are part of us. So what we do is to network, try to encourage and mentor the young ones so that they will know that there is career in the sector. We try to encourage them because there are a lot of opportunities in the sector. We also try to educate the young ones by going to schools and giving them the choice of career opportunities in the maritime industry. We try and look for cadets especially the ones in MAN, Oron and give them scholarship. Once they finish from there we try and look for companies that will take them on for them to go for sea time training. We did it for about three ladies, two of them are already working with NIMASA and one of them was working with Mearsk Line, and in the process she had a scholarship and she went and did her first and second degree in UK and she is back now. At our last event we showcased her and asked members of the public to offer her job. All we want to do is to encourage the young ones to go and study and help them in getting a job.
How long has WISTA been in existence here in Nigeria?
In Nigeria it started in 1994 and the international body started in n1984 in UK. It started at a conference, there was a shipping conference and the women during tea time stayed in one place and it was from there that they started thinking of setting up their own group.
What is the relationship between the Nigerian branch of the association and the international body?
We are part of WISTA international; we normally have our Annual General Meeting (AGM) in different countries. So we meet yearly for our AGM where we discuss issues in the maritime industry globally, each country brings up their report and that is where we network, we get to meet people from other countries. And usually those people that their vessels come to Nigeria, they will like to know the faces in Nigeria they can talk to. So we exchange contacts if they have anything they need in Nigeria they will call us and tell us. And if we need anything from other countries we know who to call too, the main essence is for networking and trying to help each other in the industry.
We have other women associations in the industry like WILAT, what is the difference between other women associations and WISTA?
Women in Logistics and Transport (WILAT) started just about five years ago and it is supposed to be an umbrella like women in shipping, we have women in aviation, we also have women in the rail amongst others. So you see women in shipping are supposed to be under WISTA and women in aviation are supposed to be in another association and then you have to be a member of Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT).
So WILAT is supposed to be women group in CILT; so all women in CILT are the ones that formed themselves are Women in Logistics and Transport (WILAT). So that one is women wing of CILT; I am a member of CILT so automatically I am a member of WILAT. They just started to know that there is need for women to come together in CILT, so that is the essence of that one.
They don’t have autonomy like if they want to do anything they will go on their own and do it they have to go through the president of CILT. So they are women group under CILT. So you can belong to this group if you are in the aviation in transport generally. Those that do haulage and all that or in the academy, those that lecture in transport department. We have different modes we have the air, the sea, the road, the rail and the pipelines. So WILAT is made up of women from all these modes. So it is not like a women group that just came out on their own the way WISTA did. We are one of the oldest in the maritime industry, we celebrated our 20th anniversary three years ago and WILAT is five years back.
In what way will you say that WISTA has impacted on the Nigerian economy?
WISTA, as I said to you we are in management position in different organisations and we always come together the way we had our last business luncheon and we discuss tropical issues. Issues that are disturbing people in the industry like infrastructure which was what we discussed at our last business meeting. We invited experts from the industry to come and talk about it and proffer solutions to all the problems that are there in the maritime industry. And if they need any advice we always give our own advice on maritime issues. We are also there training and mentoring the young ones, we are out there impacting on women in rural areas.
Like in Epe, we were there once and we bought fishing and engine boats for them and the women have been using it very well. We invited them to one of one events they felt it was for them to bring returns they came with some fishes and some money, we told them no, it is for you to empower yourselves. We have also been to Oron, and there are some fisher women out there, we also bought the same fishing and engine boats for them, they too after sometime they brought money and smoked fish, but we also told them that it is for you.
We have also empowered some students and secured placement on board vessels we have also given them jobs and we have represented the country even in the House of Reps defending the maritime bills one certain time.
How would WISTA access the Nigerian maritime sector this year?
The Nigerian maritime sector is being controlled by the government and it is based on government policies and some of those policies are not favourable to the shipping companies and agents and they always complain. From the government side I know the government has been doing well trying to ensure that the shipping community has ease of doing business. Recently there was a Presidential order on ease of doing business which I know NIMASA and NPA keyed into. Now we close around 7pm here in NIMASA and we come for weekend jobs also unlike before, this is to ensure that no vessel is delayed in the ports. Sometimes the shipping companies depend on when they submit their documents for clearance and at the government level as I said, we are doing all we can to ensure that people assess their vessels on time.
What is your association doing about the state of Apapa roads?
That is what I told you earlier, that we invited the Minister of transportation; Mr Rotimi Amaechi as our key speaker at our last event. He came and gave us his own paper on what they have been doing on the bad roads because we mentioned to him that now we are talking about exportation of yams, but there is no roads to access the ports, how can we improve the roads and he came and said that we should not expect government to do everything by itself, that is why they are partnering with Dangote to do the job. Shippers’ Council is also working on it, creating holding bays thereby giving access to the roads. Because it is not a question of having good roads because if these trucks are on the roads even if you have good roads before you know it they will get spoilt because of the pressure on them.
So the minister gave us a list of projects that the ministry of works is doing, he talked about the budget that they would need to maintain all roads and what they getting from the maintenance of roads compared to what is on ground is incomparable. The women were not too happy with the answers, some suggested we go and see the minister and take it seriously.
What do you have to say about the congestions surcharge recently introduced by shipping lines?
Before any charge will be introduced, usually it must have been discussed but possibly it has not been discussed or explained to those that are concerned and all I can suggest and think about is they should come together and know why they are introducing the increase.
What is the position of your association on mentorship?
Mentorship as I told you is our core value because most of us at the managerial position as I told you are almost on our way out and we need the young ones to take after us. So any opportunity we see, we try to mentor the young ones. As I told you earlier that is what we do we go out to school and create awareness about job opportunity. We have always made ourselves available for any young girl who needs assistance.
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