BY MOSES NOSIKE
Mrs Margaret Orakwusi is a barrister, Ex-President, Nigerian Trawler Operators Association (NITOA), Chief Executive Officer MORBOD Fisheries Limited, a maritime consultant and public speaker.
In this chart with Woman in Her Prime, she cautions women against playing down their potentials and listed effective time management as sine qua-none for women's advancement in their choosen endeavours as well as coping with family obligations.
As a barrister cum Managing Director of a fishing company who does business locally and internationally, how were you able to achieve this feat as a woman?
Yes, I'm engaged in deep pit fishing, trawling and I'm also a lawyer. I practise my profession in and out of the country.
What were those challenges of building a successful law career?
Margaret Orakwusi
Well, I'm lucky in my profession because I have not seen any differences between a man and a woman in the legal profession. Probably, those who came before us went through that process. But right now, I'm given same the right of hearing that is given to a man in any court in this country. Having said so, women face challenges, of course you know our background, custom, tradition and those things we have put in place to limit the efforts of women. But I believe that when a woman rises above those sentiments and see herself as a human being created by God; having same right, brain and functions like the male, she excels. As far as I'm concerned, a woman should acknowledge her potentials, see herself first and foremost as human see herself as having same natural right as a man. And when you believe in one ability, then your story is a success one.
Despite their potentials, most women are still lagging behind, is it because of the gender issue?
It's easy to understand, a man would only think about his career, family in quote. A woman for instance, we have these nine months that we stay thinking of our condition as pregnancy and also delivery. And you don't just give birth and rush back to the work you are doing. So, a man does not go through all that, no matter how sympathetic he is to his wife during that period, the fact still remains that he doesn't experience childbirth, pregnancy or nurse the baby. These are additional burden for a woman. And this is one of the things that limit our potentials. But there again, you can say, some women try to delay their career, sort of saying, let me devote six years of my life in building my home, that means a man has taken six years. If it's a race, he has started six years before the woman. So, there is nothing you can do about that. Some women are able to combine all these activities, looking after their homes, going through childbearing, going through nursing, doing all the school runs and also being effective in their chosen career. I think that is where the distinction lies. And again, for those of us in business, or anybody in business in this country, the cost of fund is expensive, but it's more expensive for the woman because some of us don't have all those things we need to secure the fund with. For instance, the issue of land, property ownership in this country. But then, we are trying to talk with the policy makers, the banks to be more friendly to the woman because of the custom, tradition and what have you.
Appointing a first woman Chief Justice of the country, what does that say about women, and do you see women achieving more results when they are leading?
In terms of having the first woman Chief Justice of the country, it's a plus for the judiciary, and you know, in my profession, we follow hierarchy. You don't just jump into a situation. There is this seniority element in everything we do. I think everybody would gain by toeing that line. We give honour to whom honour is due. They didn't just give it to her because she is a woman, she went through the process and of course it's her turn to be so appointed. She has come a long way. And she is now a role model. She is been first in everything. She is now a role model.
Having been in the law profession for a long time, how can a woman become an achiever in this society?
A woman can become an achiever by being steadfast. I always give myself as an example. I dabbled into deep pit fishing, here is a woman, a maritime lawyer but not a maritime engineer so to speak. What do I know about operations of a vessel. Putting the legal documents together, knowing when to do this is a different thing.
We are talking about what do I know about a part of a ship, what do I know about crewing investor. But I keep telling everybody if you have an inquisitive mind, willlingness to learn, then success is not far away.
There are no challenges you can't overcome, if you are determined to succeed. And then you have to have fulfilment, you know when you are hungry, you eat, drink and you are satisfied. You must be hungry for something. I like to offer employment to people. Job creation. I also like to share my experience with people. I am 'a people's' woman, 'a people's' lady. When I put smiles on the faces of people, I'm very happy. I think that was what really motivated me into expansion to different projects. To have more people around me,happy faces that we can brain storm together and create jobs.
Managing your home front, law firm and fishing company, how are you executing the three demanding assignments?
Effective management of time, because you are dealing with things that are quite demanding. And everything is demanding your time. The children are demanding your time, the home front, your business and law practice are all demanding of your time. It's challenging. But you can overcome. When you manage your time effectively and as a human being you have to also recognise the things you can't do and accept it. What I'm saying in essence, you have time for your children, your family and thank God for the advent of GSM, internet. You can work anywhere. You can be in your room taking care of your child and also be on the internet at the same time giving instructions to your lawyers or workers – do it this way or that, and they are sending papers to you. So you can actually work from home. It's a lot easier now than when we started. We didn't have the luxury of phone, internet and all that, but we were able to also succeed because we were quite effective in managing our time, and you have to get your priorities right.
My priority as a woman, first my children, so everything stops when my children need me. Is that at the expense of my work, the answer is no. You must always make provision, you must also learn to train people so that when you turn your back the business goes on. When you have good managers in place, then you can afford to also be jack of all trade, master of all, and a lot of things now become achievable.
