Sopuruchi Onwuka

The need to urgently close the yawning talent gaps in the nation’s energy industry has made it compelling for government to evolve regulations that deliver gender-balancing goals in the sector.

Speakers on two separate panels at the 2025 Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition (NAICE) of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) agree that time has come for the energy industry to call more women to decision table or redesign the table altogether.

The panel debaters, who featured in the Women Leadership Program of NAICE, also called on the few women in industry leadership to provide the critical helps that smoothen the success path for fellow women.

Policy debate for the panel session centered on ‘Unlocking Women’s Potential in The Energy Industry.’

In her keynote address that laid the posers for the debate, the Managing Director of NNPC Foundation Limited, Mrs Emmanuella Arukwe, had strongly emphasized the role of mentorship platforms, professional organizations and advocacy services in supporting women activate and fulfill their potentials.

She made it clear that women in the industry must form the critical support base that enables future professionals overcome stereotypes that hinder advancement.

She called on women in leadership positions to speak up for absent ones, stressing that more female leaders are required in the system.

In the panel debate moderated by Engr Tessy Ewuzie, discussants noted that low number of women in technical roles has compelled groups like Women in Energy Network (WIEN) to sponsor young women into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.

Group Managing Director who is also the Chief Executive Officer of West Power & Gas Limited, Mrs Wola Joseph-Condotti, pointed at the need to build a solid pipeline of qualified women to stand ready and succeed  present executives in the system.

In calling for women to stay bold and firm, she made it clear that female executives have proved more professional and tenacious in their roles.

She also regretted that whereas the number of women in the energy industry has improved across time, their rise to leadership positions have remained arduous.

Mrs Joseph-Condotti who is also the Vice President in charge of Power at  WIEN urged younger generation of female professionals to choose STEM education, take up technical roles and close the knowledge gaps hindering gender balance in the industry.

Both Engr Tessy Ewuzie and Mrs Joseph-Condotti are members of WIEN, Nigeria’s leading gender equity advocate in the energy industry. The group forms support base for female industry executives, provides mentorship for young members and offers STEM scholarship to girls in colleges and varsities.

In her contribution to the debate, another speaker, Dorcas James, emphasized the need to pursue a regulatory requirement on agencies of government and corporate organizations to guarantee gender equity in appointment into their boards.

She argued that diversity and inclusion in the energy industry must be driven from the point of pan-industry business model.

She argued that embracing diversity in the industry should be value driven and cost efficient.

She also  hammered on the need for a mix of talents that tempers technical and soft skills.

Mrs Omowunmi Akingbohungbe of the WIMBIZ stressed the emphasis on gender equity at leadership level where, she said, decisions are made.

She supported the idea of advancing business case for diversity, adding that collaboration should bring women to visibility and make business case for diversity.

Also in lending her voice to calls for more effective mentoring programmes, she made it clear that mentoring prepares beneficiaries to be ready for board appointments.

In opening up unincluded sections and groups, Mrs Olutosin Sodeinde noted that several communities of women and youths still remain invisible to the industry due to lack of opportunity.

She  made it clear that a lot of talented people with great ideas still remain outside the margins. She called for collaborations that would reach more people with opportunities.

Competition among marginalized people should and must give way to the level of collaboration required to accelerate inclusion goals, she canvassed.

The Head of External Affairs and Corporate Communication at the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Mrs Hawwau Gambo, advised women groups in the industry to make extensive use of the media to engage the government.

Gambo noted that women are part of the biggest consumers of energy who are unfortunately financially excluded.

She pointed out that compelling narratives that find expression through the mass media have become necessary in changing public perception of “the boss lady.”

All business strategies must embed media strategy that shapes the narratives, she said; and called for communication strategies for pushing advocacy and forging partnerships.

In calling for greater media partnerships, Mrs Gambo stressed that the press should be empowered and informed enough to drive independent narratives on the need for gender balance.

On the begging question of whether women already in leadership positions should leverage their roles in pulling up others, the panel members agreed that only women are best placed to understand the struggles of fellow women.

The panel resolved that regulation, mentorship, support base and women-to-women collaboration are now more urgent than ever in the quest for gender balance and equity in the energy industry.