Technology
By Chiazo Ogbolu
Lagos, Dec. 24, 2018 (NAN) The Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) on Monday said that the centre had so far trained more than 23,000 women and girls.
The Centre’s Communications Officer, Mr Adeyemi Odutola, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
NAN reports that W.TEC is a Nigerian non-profit organisation focused on encouraging girls to pursue technology careers and supporting both girls and women to use technology for entrepreneurship and to speak about issues affecting their lives.
This is done through technology literacy training, technology-based projects, mentoring, work placement and research.
Odutola said: “The training of women and girls is being done through the centre’s technology camps, after school clubs and other programmes.
“Since its inception in 2008, W.TEC is one of the first organisations working in the gender and technology space in Nigeria and as at December 2017, the centre has trained 23, 132 women and girls.
“W.TEC is focused on nurturing the next generation of female technology creators, entrepreneurs and leaders and this is done through the centre’s programmes which include technology camps, after school clubs, mentoring and research activities.
“The centre has worked hard to educate the wider public about the importance of gender equality in technology through training, speaking at conferences, hosting public discussions, media interviews and presenting our results and alumni.
“We build the capacities of Nigerian girls and women, to increase their economic power and ability to speak about issues that concerns their future.’’
He said that nurturing the next generation of female technology creators, entrepreneurs and leaders was being done in partnership with local and international Non-Governmental Organisations(NGOs), educational and research organisations.
Odutola said that the centre faced some challenges during its work; listing them as getting the women to understand what they are doing, getting them to concentrate, as what they do does not have to do with money.
He listed other challenges as: power, the facilities on ground as the centre has to carry its equipment around and the time it takes to agree on a day for the programme.
“It is really time-consuming to agree on a day as sometime, programme planned early is pushed backwards and this sets the centre back, ‘’ Odutola said.
He added that a society where Nigerian women and girls would be able to create and use Information and Communication Technology(ICT) for learning, activism, entrepreneurship and professional activities effectively, was the vision of W.TEC. (NAN)
CAN/OSA/AJA
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Edited by Shittu Obassa/Adeleye Ajayi