Girls In ICT Day Celebration: NCC, MTN Partner eBusiness Life

THE celebration of the International Girls in ICT Day 2016 in Nigeria is gathering steam as key stakeholders in the industry have lined up to partner with eBusiness Life Communication Limited in its bid to create awareness among young girls on the need to embrace careers in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

The Nigerian Telecom regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and dominant telecom operator, MTN has indicated their interest to be part of this year’s campaign.

This year's event, scheduled to hold in Lagos on April 28, 2014 at the Lagos Oriental Hotel, the fifth since eBusiness Life joined the annual campaign in 2012, is an initiative of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) geared at sensitizing young girls and encouraging them to take up Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a career.

The NCC has consistently partnership with eBusiness Life in driving this campaign since it began in 2012 because of the regulator’s readiness to enter into strategic alliances with the private sector as well as international organisations for the actualization of the ICT vision and also the development of human capital in the country with emphasis on creating and supporting a knowledge-based economy.

MTN’s support is borne out of the quest to ensure that the Nigerian girl child is presented with all options available in shaping her career and ensuring that the profession of ICT is demystified among females.

The company has consistently been engaged in development of human capital through various initiatives. The partnership with eBusinesslife is one of such vehicles that will help the operator achieve its goals.

According to the chief executive officer of eBusiness Life Communication, Mrs. Ufuoma Emuophedaro, the need to sensitise young girls is premised on the fact that the society has unconsciously relegated the female gender and delegated careers in technical fields, especially in ICT, to their male counterparts.

According to her, effort should be made to introduce young girls to career opportunities in technical fields in both the public and private sectors to help them have a wider range of options and contribute their quota in the industry and in the development of the economy.

She stated that the ICT Girls’ Day workshop and attending campaign will further open up opportunities for girls in ICT sector.

As part of the 2016 event, there will be graphic design competition between female students from select secondary schools, roundtable discussions, interactive and motivational talk from renowned women ICT professionals, among others.

At the end of the event, it is expected that the young students should be able to introspect and pursue any desired career path in ICT, technical or not, without bias, or gender consciousness.

While the motive of this campaign is not to force these young and budding girls into a profession which is currently dominated by men, it tends to present and demystify the ICT profession, making them realize the need and intrigues of the profession. It will also expose their hidden abilities to tackle the challenges that were faced and surmounted by some other women who are already excelling in and enjoying the profession.

International Girls’ Day is an initiative launched through ITU Resolution 70 with the idea of creating a global environment that will empower and encourage girls and young women to consider careers in the field of information and communication technologies.

e-Business Life Magazine is a monthly Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Magazine incorporated to bringing better information that would link users and service providers as well as enable Nigeria take its pride of place among the comity of nations in the new global economy by furthering the cause of ICT.

The mission at e-Business Life Magazine is to inform and educate ICT users on trends and developments both locally and internationally; to provide a platform on which to build ICTs in Nigeria and also to be a voice for ICT consumers in the country. 

In addition we are poised to create a world where Nigerian youths have a better understanding of modern technologies and can easily deploy these technologies in developing their communities.