Written by Ibrahim I Nassir. Head, Press and Public Relations Unit. 14/10/2022

The Director-General, National Centre for Women Development (NCWD), Hon Dr.Asabe Vilita Bashir has said that over a thousand brand new laptops have been given to Nigerian women trainees in geo-political zones of the country between 2018 and now, as one of the core targets of SDG-5 is the use of ICT to promote the empowerment of women in the country.
In her words, ‘over ten (10) thousand Nigerian females have been trained on various ICT courses since inception‘ she stated.
She made this today at the banquet hall in the Centre where ninety participants comprising of forty-five persons with disabilities exposed to ICT assistive technology and forty-five female Technicians on ICT & Mechatronics graduated in a grand ceremony.
Hon.Dr. Bashir emphasised that this training is aimed at exposing the participants to various information and communication technologies (ICT) 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.
Further, the NCWD boss reiterated her commitment to the implementation plan of action adopted by the World Summit on information society (WSIS), which includes two critical areas for persons with disabilities, namely access to information, knowledge, and capacity building.
According to her, ‘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 recognized the driving force of information communication technology, Dr.Bashir stated that ICT remains 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 remains the catalyst for change in working conditions, handling and exchanging of information, teaching methods, learning approaches, scientific research and in accessing information.
Thanking President Mohammed Buhari for his inclusive initiative aimed at ensuring that no one is left out in the scheme of things and his desire to ensure that women take advantage of ICT to improve their well-being, Hon Dr Asabe Vilita Bashir assured the participants that under her watch, the Centre will continue to encourage the youths and women, who forms more than 70% 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.
She 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, the head of ICT department, Mr. Morrison Udobong said that technology is now 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 needs more girls and women as the jobs of the future will be driven by technology and innovation. According to him, ’it is projected that 65% of children entering primary school today will have jobs that do not yet exist’, he asserted.
Further, ‘Girls want to learn, they are stepping up to learn tech skills, therefore, developing the requisite capacities of girls/women through programmes like this will bridge the digital gap and provide an avenue for the country to fully utilize the potentials of girls, women, and youths, ‘he stated.
Thankfully, the representative of the participants, Ms Charity Mube thanked the Director-general and her management team for this rear opportunity granted them to learn ICT to become self-employed.
The high light 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.