The National Centre for Women Development, a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, has given over 1,000 brand new laptops to Nigerian women trainees in the six geopolitical zones of the country, its Director-General, Dr. Asabe Bashir, has said.
According to her, the donation was one of the core targets of Social Development Goal 5, on the use of ICT to promote the empowerment of women in the country.
A statement by the Head (Press and Public Relations Unit) in NCWD, Ibrahim Nassir, said Bashir stated these in Abuja on Friday where 90 participants comprising of 45 persons with disabilities exposed to ICT assistive technology and 45 female technicians on ICT and Mechatronics graduated in a grand ceremony.
“Over 10,000 Nigerian females have been trained on various ICT courses between 2018 and now”, she stated.
Bashir emphasised that the training was aimed at exposing the participants to various information and communication technologies applications, tools and techniques with significant impact on their lives, allowing them to enhance their social, cultural, political, and economic integration and become self-reliant.
The NCWD DG reiterated her commitment to the implementation plan of action adopted by the World Summit on Information Society, including two critical areas for persons with disabilities, namely access to information, knowledge, and capacity building.
“Each year, we continue to train and empower persons with disabilities and foster the effective use of ICTs that are accessible, adaptive and affordable”, she stressed.
Having recognised the driving force of information communication technology, she stated that ICT remained the primary gadget for all progressive knowledge based and skills-oriented development activities and initiatives in all spheres of human endeavour.
She stated that ICT remained the catalyst for change in working conditions, handling and exchanging of information, teaching methods, learning approaches, scientific research and in accessing information.
Bashir commended the President, Muhammadu Buhari for his inclusive initiative aimed at ensuring that no one was left out in the scheme of things and his desire to ensure that women take advantage of ICT to improve their well-being.
She assured the participants that under her watch, the NCWD would continue to encourage the youths and women, who constitute more than 70 per cent of the nation’s population, in order to harness the potent powers of ICT to enable them substantively participate and benefit from the information revolution across the country.
Bashir charged the participants to practice what they have learned and shared it with other women in their community and assured them of her continuous support and monitoring.
Delivering an overview of the programme, Morrison Udobong, the Head of ICT Department, said that technology is playing a role in all kinds of careers ranging from art to history and law, making it skills accessible to women/girls to set them up for economic independence.
He stated that ICT sector needed more girls and women as the jobs of the future would be driven by technology and innovation.
“It is projected that 65 per cent of children entering primary school today will have jobs. Girls want to learn, they are stepping up to learn technical skills. Therefore, developing the requisite capacities of girls/women through programmes like this bridge the digital gap and provide an avenue for the country to fully utilize the potentials of girls, women, and youths,” he stated.
A representative of the participants, Ms Charity Mube, thanked the Director-General and her management team for the opportunity granted them to learn ICT to become self-employed.
The highlight of the closing ceremony was the provision of a brand-new laptop, certificate, and stipend as transportation benefits to the ninety participants as well as the group photograph with Director-General and her management team.
