NGO calls for more women inclusion in decision making



By Funmilola Gboteku

A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Women Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) on Thursday advocated the inclusion of more women in decision making process for gender-balance.

Officials of W.TEC made the call in interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the programme organised to mark the 2023 International Day of Girl-Child held at Lagos City Senior College, Yaba, Lagos.

NAN reports that the workshop, which was in partnership with an American-based Internet Cybersecurity outfit, F5 inc., had in attendance students from Lagos City Senior College.

One of the facilitators, Mr Adeyemi Odutola, the External Relations Lead, W.TEC, told NAN that the International Day of Girl Child was majorly about raising the awareness and support towards the girl child rights.

Odutola said it was essential to keep hammering on the opportunities and advancement of girls in all fields to create gender balance and have diverse contributions of talents.

“There is need to educate the public on the need for a gender-balanced society because we realised that 50 per cent of the population of women may not be productive.

“We need to empower the girl child with requisite knowledge and let them know why we should have more women in major fields, especially in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM),” he said.

Odutola further emphasised that giving the girl child the same opportunity the boy child has, would allow for fairness and equality in the society.

He explained that young girls needed to be more involved in decision making, especially those decisions that had direct impacts on their lives.

Odutola added that during the workshop the female students were also taught on how to defend themselves against abuse.

Another facilitator at the event, Miss Oluwanifesimi Osho, said the NGO had not been comfortable with the system which held women back in the decision making process.

“We are not comfortable with the fact that women don’t make much impact in the decision making process of our country.

“When making decisions, it should be a 50-50 gender space; that way, we will make more impact.

“In most cases, women are disadvantaged in decision making, although not in all cases. For example, the designing of seat belt of a car puts women at a disadvantage because the belt has to pass through their breast.

“Another one is a transparent escalator which when going up shows the lower parts of a woman’s body, except the woman is putting on trousers,” she said.

Osho explained further that more advocacy needed to be done to attract more women to the technology space which presently had more men.

She said a lot of misconceptions were going around that science was difficult, which in the real sense was all encompassing, when compared to other professions.

Speaking on the impact of the workshop, Mary Zamenu, a Badagry indigene and a student of Lagos City Senior College, said girls had many rights that were unknown to them, which the programme had highlighted.

“We have many rights that we are not aware of, but through this workshop we have been exposed to the opportunities and benefits of studying STEM subjects.

“We also learnt that the woman’s place is not only to tend to Kitchen duties, but to also occupy positions of power like the men,” Zamenu said.

Also, Pelumi Omosehin, a student at the same school, said the choice of career mattered a lot, adding that more girls should be encouraged to join science class.

NAN reports that W.TEC held the workshop in five different schools in Lagos, which included Lagos City Senior College, Yaba, Gbaja Senior Girls High School, Surulere, Stadium Girls Senior College, Surulere, Methodist Girls High School, Yaba, and John Wesley Senior High School, Yaba.