By Dayo Adesulu

No fewer than 100 Nigerian girls from private and public senior secondary schools in Lagos get support from the partnership between Vodacom Business Nigeria and e-Business Life Communication Limited to studying Information and communication technology at tertiary level. This was disclosed as the students converged to celebrate the International Girls in ICT Day.

Executive Head of Networks, Vodacom Business Nigeria, Mr. Vernon Van Rooyen (center) addressing students of the Mathematics/Computer Science Department of Benue State University at an ICT workshop organized by Vodacom Business Nigeria recently in Lagos

Speaking at the event, Mrs. Obafunke Atanda, Senior Manager Product Portfolio, Vodacom Business Nigeria, noted that the number of females currently employed in ICT in Nigeria is extremely low compared to males.

According to her, the development could be attributed not only to the relative lack of females studying science and technology at secondary and tertiary level, but also, the number of females given access to formal education.

She explained that the partnership is aimed at encouraging youths especially females to include science and technology among their career choices. ‘’The intention is to increase the number of females in the ICT sector of Nigeria which is currently dominated by men. The company promotes the education and training of girls in primary and secondary schools, thereby empowering them at an early stage.

“We feel it’s our responsibility to support initiatives aimed at increasing the number of skilled and qualified women in Nigeria, and we enjoin other companies to contribute to this course.” Empowering female students, she maintained would address the root cause of the lack of female advancement in education, unwanted teenage pregnancy and domestic violence.

Meanwhile, the CEO of e-Business Life Communication Limited, convener of the Girls in ICT for Lagos, Mrs. Ufoma Emuophedaro said “Companies like Vodacom are playing a key role in the global push to get young women and girls excited about a future career in ICT. You educate a woman, you educate a generation. We are grateful for Vodacom’s participation and support for this event”.

She said that Girls in ICT Day is a time when girls have the opportunity to reflect on the importance of ICT to their future careers. It is a day where girls gain hands-on skills in ICT development, and realize that coding, blogging or app development is a fun and creative way to make a difference in the digital world.