A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Women Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) called for the inclusion of more women in the decision-making process to bridge the gender gap in Governance in Nigeria.
The call was made by Officials of W.TEC in an interview with journalists at the event to mark the 2023 International Day of Girl-Child held at Lagos City Senior College, Yaba, Lagos, Southern, Nigeria.
The workshop, which was in partnership with an American-based Internet Cybersecurity outfit, F5 Inc., had in attendance students from Lagos City Senior College.
The External Relations Lead, W.TEC, Mr. Adeyemi Odutola said that the International Day of Girl Child was majorly about raising awareness and support towards girl child rights.
He stressed the need to harness opportunities and advancement of girls in all sectors to create gender balance and have diverse contributions of talents.
“There is a need to educate the public on the need for a gender-balanced society because we realise that 50 per cent of the population of women may not be productive.
“We need to empower the girl child with the requisite knowledge and let them know why we should have more women in major fields, especially in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM),” he said.
Odutola further emphasised that giving the girl child the same opportunity as the boy child would allow for fairness and equality in society.
He explained that young girls needed to be more involved in decision-making, especially those decisions that had direct impacts on their lives.
Odutola added that during the workshop the female students were also taught how to defend themselves against abuse.
Another facilitator at the event, Miss Oluwanifesimi Osho, said the NGO had not been comfortable with the system which held women back in the decision-making process.
“We are not comfortable with the fact that women don’t make much impact in the decision-making process of our country. When making decisions, it should be a 50-50 gender space; that way, we will make more impact.
According to Osho, “In most cases, women are disadvantaged in decision-making, although not in all cases. For example, the design of a seat belt in a car puts women at a disadvantage because the belt has to pass through their breasts.
“Another one is a transparent escalator which when going up shows the lower parts of a woman’s body, except the woman is putting on trousers,” she said.
Osho explained further that more advocacies needed to be done to attract more women to the technology space which presently had more men.
She said a lot of misconceptions were going around that science was difficult, which in the real sense all was encompassing when compared to other professions.
Speaking on the impact of the workshop, Mary Zamenu, a Badagry indigene and a student of Lagos City Senior College, said girls had many rights that were unknown to them, which the programme had highlighted.
“We have many rights that we are not aware of, but through this workshop, we have been exposed to the opportunities and benefits of studying Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics, STEM, subjects.
We also learnt that the woman’s place is not only to tend to Kitchen duties but to also occupy positions of power like the men,” Zamenu said.
Also, Pelumi Omosehin, a student at the same school, said the choice of career mattered a lot, adding that more girls should be encouraged to join science classes.
Dominica Nwabufo
