MainOne, DPI seek policies to bridge gender disparity in ICT adoption

West Africa’s leading connectivity and data center solutions provider, MainOne and a Non Governmental Organisation, Digital Peers International (DPI) have called on the Federal Government to come up with policies that would help bridge the digital gap and gender disparity in the adoption of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the country.

They made these calls at different fora in Lagos and Abuja, while marking this year’s International Girls in ICT Day, which is usually fourth Thursday in April.

Speaking in Lagos at the E-Business Life Communications Limited hosted forum, Marketing Manager at MainOne, Jumoke Akande, noted that there is currently a gender disparity in ICT jobs and urged girls and women to pursue technology-related careers.

She said, “We believe that improving the number of girls in ICT careers creates a more balanced and inclusive society. Therefore, it is important that we encourage girls to expand their horizons, to empower and enable them overcome whatever limiting mindsets and fears they might have regarding pursuing careers in ICT.”

She further emphasized MainOne’s support of initiatives aimed to encourage technology careers for Nigerian girls. She said, “At MainOne, our goal is to provide girls of all ages with support, mentorship and the motivation to pursue ICT-driven careers to eventually become active role models themselves to the next generation of girls. Our CEO, Ms. Funke Opeke, is an ITU female role model and believes this cycle is necessary to create better opportunities for our girls to revert the gender imbalance in Technology.”

Meanwhile, from Abuja, Female Gender Initiative Coordinator of DPI, Alice Lawrence, urged the Federal Government to declare a State of Emergency in the ICT sector in the country.

She observed that Nigeria is said to be very low in the usage of ICT and ICT application tools hence the establishment of the DPI to arrest the problem through intervention programme.

Lawrence noted that ICT in Nigeria is dominated by the male gender adding that statistics had it that ICT involvement of male to female representation in the country is just seven to three hence the need for intervention to balance the equation.

She said, “Government should ensure that ICT is introduced from the basic level of kindergarten to tertiary levels. We need to ensure all Nigerians are IT literate. DPI is into ICT capacity building among women, children, youth and girls in the sub-Saharan Africa with particular focus on Nigeria. This is because of the low level of ICT literacy in the region. When you talk of building the local content, ICT should be considered. ICT is the key to development of the national economy.

In her comments, the Chief Executive Officer of eBusiness Life Communications, Ufuoma Emuophedaro appreciated MainOne for its efforts in expediting digital literary and called on other stakeholders to join hands to further invest in girls and young women by supporting the Girls in ICT campaign and empowering them, giving them the confidence to pursue ICT studies and careers.