Founder of WITIN, Martha Omoekpen Alade

By Esther Onyegbula

Women in Technology in Nigeria, WITIN, has announced new advisory board members for July 2020 to July 2022.

The new board comprises Ms. Gloria Anozie-Young, Mrs Rakiya Mohammed, Ms. Ulrika Sultan, Chris Uwaje, Dr Markie Idowu, Ms. Bunmi Afolabi, Ms. Olatomiwa Williams, Tiwalade Usman, Banke Alawaye, Ms. Mercy Orangi, Tim Akinbo, Aderonke Adeyegbe, Prof. Virginia Ejiofor, Prof. Uche Isiugo-Abanihe and Mrs Martha Alade.

Ms. Gloria Anozie-Young is the Executive director Operations for NorMacGee Productions, a production company working with children in the arts and digital space.

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An actor in the sector for over 30 years, she also produces and presents radio interactive programmes. She is passionate about interests of the girl-child for the future.

Mrs Mohammed is a civil servant and a certified IT Business Manager, Chief Information Security Officer, CCISO; Certified Enterprise and Solution Architect, Certified Information Systems Auditor, CISA, and a Chartered Accountant (ICAN).

She has worked in various environments spanning financial, telecommunications and technology with over 25 years experience of which over 15 years were in top leadership roles.

She has passion for mentoring young girls in the field of ICT.

Ulrika Sultan is a PhD student at Linkopings University, Sweden, researching girls’ interests in technology, a topic she has been engaged in for the last 12 years.

She has published books and research on the topic, has background as a technology teacher and has been a head of unit of a municipality technological school.

She works close and productively with communities, policy makers and industry organisations to create opportunities for girls in tech.

Dr. Chris Uwaje is the acclaimed pioneer of the National Information Technology Development Policy for Nigeria (1999-2001).

He is the Co-Founder Past-President and Fellow of the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria, ISPON, Africa Chair IEEE Global IoT Summit; Fellow NCS and Past-President ITAN; publisher of “e-Knowledge – Time is Running Out” and over 300 IT papers.

Dr Idowu is currently the MD/CEO of Xpress Payments Solutions limited. Prior to this, she was an Executive Director at Polaris bank.

She is a multi-talented banker, with over 30 years’ experience in banking and IT.  Dr Idowu, a turnaround specialist, has been involved in several strategic projects, business initiatives, policy formulation and implementation, with consistent record of achievements.

She has served on several company’s boards including Polaris Bank, Mainone Cable Company, Equity Assurance, IHS, and Mainstreet Brokers.

Bunmi Afolabi is one of the pioneers of IT Training & Certification in Nigeria, having been the first female Microsoft Certified Professional in 1994. She ran a successful IT family business for many years before she decided to change tracks.

An MBA graduate of Cranfield University in the UK, she has held the positions of Alumni Relations Director at Lagos Business School & Director General at the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce.

Olatomiwa is an award-winning leader with experience spanning two decades in technology solution sales, consulting, support, channel and people management.

Ola is known for building strong teams, helping customers adopt new technologies for transformation business outcome.

Currently, she  leads the Partner Technology Team at Microsoft across Middle East and Africa Emerging Markets. She is very passionate about promoting gender diversity in the technology field.

Tiwalade Usman is a PhD (Computer Science) candidate of the American University of Nigeria, Yola, is also a Chief Lecturer at the Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna.

She has over 32 years experience in the field of Computer Science.  She is a member of NCS, Women in AI, IEEE, MAN, ACM etc, and passionate about supporting and empowering women and girls in STEM.

Banke Alawaye is a digital transformation specialist and CTO at aCubed Limited. She has a background in leading Education and Technology for Development programmes.

With over 25 years of work experience with many businesses, she has been helping personal brands and organisations make the best of digital tools for years.

She’s a passionate advocate for women in technology and was recognised as a Digital Frontier Woman by DecadeOfWomen.

Mercy Orangi is a software developer turned developer evangelist, previously at Google where she led the GDE Programme in SSA among other tech ecosystem events, and now leading Developer Relations at Andela in Africa.

With over seven years of experience spearheading Developer Relations in Sub-Saharan Africa, Mercy brings a wide range of the developer community perspective to her portfolio.

She is deeply passionate about unearthing top tech talent in Africa and providing platforms that put them on the global tech scene.

Tim Akinbo is a software developer and entrepreneur with over 15 years professional experience. His experience cuts across a number of industries: from fintech to government transparency.

He is married with a son and currently serves as the CEO of TimbaObjects Technologies Ltd.

Mrs. Aderonke Adeyegbe is the Managing Director of Comercio Cloud Computing, Nigeria’s leading indigenous cloud company; she is also the Chief Executive Officer of Comercio Limited, an IT services firm that provides IT infrastructure and maintenance solutions.

She has over two decades post-qualification experience spanning business strategy, business development, client management, sales and marketing.

In that time, she has worked with Swiss Airlines, Panasonic, Sitel UK, and British Telecommunications Plc. A leading figure in Nigeria’s telecoms industry, Aderonke is a fellow of the Institute of Information Management (IIM), Africa, the continental arm of an organisation that also has a presence in Europe and North America.

As a strong advocate for women’s rights, she is President of Zonta International Lagos Club,  which stands for women’s rights, advocate for equality, education and an end to child marriage and gender-based violence.

Professor Ejiofor is a Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.

She has been teaching, researching,  and mentoring students at all levels since 1997 and has a lot of scholarly publications and awards to her credit.

She had served as Council Member to the two IT Professional Bodies in Nigeria – Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) and Computer Professionals (Registration Council) of Nigeria (CPN).

Ejiofor had also served as the National Vice President of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Alumni Association as well as in various University Committees.

She is a Fellow of Nigeria Computer Society, British Computer Society, and Institute of Corporate Administration of Nigeria. She is presently the Technical Advisor JAMB for Anambra State.

Prof Isiugo-Abanihe, the former Vice-Chancellor of Paul University, Awka, is a Demographer at the University of Ibadan.

He is an erudite scholar of international repute and has published widely nationally and internationally.  He has supervised and mentored hundreds of students and younger colleagues who have, through his mentorship, made a success of their careers.

Prof Isiugo-Abanihe chairs the Ibadan Social and Evaluation Research Team (ISERT) and the Center for Population Activities and Education for Development (CEPAED), which respectively are committed to social and evaluation research, and provision of population and education services and consultancy to marginalised areas and groups.

He has researched and published on the empowerment of the girl-child, adolescent sexuality and family life education, orphans and vulnerable children, capacity development through basic education for women and migration and development.

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