The Convention People's Party has insisted that physiological determinants alone must not be used to bar women from a sector like the oil and gas industry. "Although men and women are different, there are some women who are physiologically superior in strength than men; It is, therefore, important to leave the choice to women and not to attempt to decide for them where they should be employed." Mrs Elizabeth Akpalu, CPP Shadow Cabinet member for Women and Children, Said that there were several other jobs in the oil and gas sector with opportunities for geologists, geophysicists and log analysts (those who analyse the amount of oil in a particular well). She further said that there were women working on the oil rigs as well as women doing different jobs, in Africa specifically Nigeria where we have women who are prospecting for oil. Mrs Akpalu said that women had the right to employment that would improve their livelihood and move them out of poverty. "As a nation we need to retrain and open up spaces for women and not conspire to close avenues to them. Additionally our 1992 Constitution guarantees non discrimination at work," she stated. The CPP is committed to identifying and training women for appropriate vocational skills in the nascent oil and gas sector she further stated. In the first republic, under the rule of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Mrs Akpalu said that women with much less literacy levels and sophistication, as compared to current trends, were driving "big big" tractors that made lots of noise; Nothing untoward happened to them just because they were women. When they made human errors, as indeed also did their menfolk, they suffered the same consequences. In the same republic, she said a woman was the Chief flying instructor at the Afienya Gliding School. "In those days, automatic transmissions were not as sophisticated as now and, we daresay, those women were using as much brawn as their male counterparts to keep machines moving; most probably with far more finesse, dexterity elegance as normally exhibited by women, she stated. Examples about women having performed similar roles in the first republic are just too numerous to mention she indicated and said that the CPP still had records amongst its membership, such women still living healthy lives whilst many of their male counterparts have long since passed away. The Ministry for Women and Children, under a CPP administration, would definitely ensure that women were not limited to the traditional dressmaking, catering, and hairdressing jobs that had consigned the majority of our women to the majority position in the poverty potential percentile, she stressed. With reference to the Oil and Gas industry in particular, the traditional image of the industry may conjure images of brawny men doing dirty work in isolated locations far from their families. However, there is no gainsaying the fact, and the Convention People's Party fervently believes that the industry must see the need to change the image and reality of the work. This demands that there should be effective work and family life balance policies. Many work place policies which are based on the assumption that the employee will always be present without the need to carry out domestic care duties or take career breaks will have to be critically examined and changed, and the potential for (female) harassment minimised or better still eliminated. The CPP firmly believes that changes will have to be made, both structurally and culturally, to make women comfortable and to have successful careers in the oil and gas industry. "This is the way to go and that is a challenge the Convention People's Party, without any reservations whatsoever, is committed to take," Mrs Akpalu stated. Source: Daily Graphic