Minister urges girls to embrace ICT career

The Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson, has urged  girls to embrace careers in Information Communications Technology (ICT) to bridge the career gap between the male and female gender in ICT.

Mrs Johnson who made this call at a ministerial programme to celebrate the Girls in ICT Day in Abuja in line with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) global advocacy to get more girls into ICT, stressed that despite the advances recorded in ICT globally, there are not many women in ICT due to the perception that it’s for geeks’ or for males.

The Minister added that the Ministry is encouraging girls to come into ICT in order to erase that perception.

‘’When I was studying engineering I was one of five girls in a class of about 80. My daughter has just graduated in an engineering degree and she was also one of about five or six girls, so nothing has really changed in 30 years, ’’ Johnson noted.

She decried the fact that despite the growing advocacy for women to embrace technology across the globe, nothing has really changed and many women are still not embracing the power of technology.

 ‘’We need to ask ourselves why and help remove all the barriers militating against girls and women embracing technology. Some of the barriers limiting women has to do with lack of support and encouragement and the Ministry will provide the necessary support by encouraging women to embrace careers in ICTs,’’ she stated.

The International Telecommunications Union ITU in 2010 set aside the fourth Thursday of April every year for the celebration of Girls in ICT. The Girls in ICT Day is an international initiative, backed by ITU Member States in Plenipotentiary Resolution 70 (Guadalajara, 2010), to create a global environment that empowers and encourages girls and young women to consider careers in ICT.

A statement made available by the Special Adviser on Media to the Minister, Efem Nkanga disclosed that the Minister invited the best girls in Sciences in their various schools to the one week programme of the Ministry in order to encourage and expose them to do more in sciences and increase the percentage of women and girls in ICTs.

The girls during  the one week programme were exposed to the power of technology and its impact on development. They met with several female engineers and interacted with many role models during the duration of the programme that increased their enthusiasm for the ICT profession.Earlier, the permanent Secretary Dr Henry Akpan had flagged off the programme by encouraging the girls to take advantage of the opportunity provided by the Ministry as they commenced the programme to celebrate ‘’Girls in ICT Day to learn and excel.

In his closing remarks, the Director Planning and Research, Mr Wole Edun on behalf of the  Minister and the Permanent Secretary thanked the students , teachers and the various schools represented for taking time out to grace the programme.

The programme was well attended by the management and staff of the Ministry, representatives of the Nigerian Communications Commission, the Managing Director of NITEL, Hajia Zainab iiyasu-Saab, teachers and students of various schools in Abuja