The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has called for more young girls and women’s participation in the technology space, to boost the nation.
Increased female participation in science is key to tackling major challenges in the society says the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Sadly, in Nigeria, while technology is estimated to contribute about 20.32 per cent to the annual GDP (as of Q3 2022), figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that women constitute only 22 per cent of the engineering and technology graduates from Nigerian universities.
The executive director of CAPPA, Akinbode Oluwafemi, at a press conference organized by CAPPA to commemorates International Women’s month, in Lagos, asserted that women contribute immensely to the growth of the society, even as he disclosed that CAPPA places a special value on them as they are drivers of many of its activities.
Oluwafemi canvassed that Nigeria should look into the future by insulating more women into the digital space, thereby advancing women’s rights in the society. “We should also begin to prepare our girls and young women to delve into the tech space. The old era of stigmatizing and segregating certain job roles for girls are over. Women can excel in any kind of job,” he advocated.
The guest speaker at the event, Software Quality Assurance Expert, Mrs. Udeme Jalekun, added that the limitation to women breaking through in tech is associated with too many difficulty.
Jalekun said it is perceived that technology is complex, while encouraging women to take the bold step and delve into technology as it will keep on evolving. “Anyone can break into tech, women can excel in it. As women, we need to understand that nothing comes easy. The most important thing is to be determined. Anything can be achieved,” she said.
Associate director, CAPPA, Aderonke Ige in her speech on ‘Innovation for Social Justice and Change’, recognized the importance of engaging women at all levels and how technology can shape and drive the society through social change.
She said technology has helped to create free space, intellectual leverage, and infusion of social skills into social change outcomes. “As as a nation, we should consider women in governance, politics, economy, or cultural considerations and not impede on the growth of the women folks. I urge women to build alliance to drive social change,” she averred.
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