NGO Seeks Women Empowerment Through ICT Training

The High-Tech Centre for Nigerian Women and Youths last Tuesday urged government at all levels and corporate bodies to equip women with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills.

President of the centre, Dr Omowumi Hassan, told newsmen in Abuja that such skills would bridge the digital divide among the female gender.

Hassan said it was the desire of many women to acquire relevant skills in information technology but that the lack of finance was a challenge.

“Training is very key. The truth of the matter is that most women shy away from attending because they don’t have financial resources to attend training.

“So from government perspective, if they really need women to come to the forefront of issues, they must provide funds for them to be trained.

“For instance, if I need to train a woman to use ICT very well, I must use a facility that has internet access, at least for a woman to sit down to explore whatever she wants to take but the facilities around are so expensive because they are business. It is not free.

“Government should support and fund training initiatives for them, that will make them to learn and be able to achieve something.“

She also urged corporate bodies to educate women and to encourage them to be innovative toward the nation’s development.

“We have had enough of the private sector sponsoring our youths, women to dance, to be naked, to participate in beauty pageants; we need knowledge.

“This is a knowledge economy and people must be developed. They have intellect.

“Women have ability to multi task, to do quite a lot of things and if they have  little opportunities of being trained, they will go haywire in doing things and making economy better.

“And of course our corporate entities in Nigeria should begin to have reorientation.

“If truly they love Nigeria, they must equip Nigerian women and youths in knowledge capacity building that will trigger innovations and their opportunities to do better things than dancing every time.“

She also called for deliberate efforts to make women to see possibilities and to take advantage of such possibilities.