Adedapo Adesanya
By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel
The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, has urged young girls to adopt digital skills to solve global problems using Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
Mr Abdullahi made the call while speaking in a virtual meeting with the Gear Hub, Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN) Kano Chapter, and Brainiacs STEM and Robotics on a Demo Day for Girls in STEM Education Bootcamp.
Lauding the effort of APWEN for the outreach in Kano so far, the NITDA boss cited that the importance of STEM skills adoption cannot be overemphasized.
He said that honing digital skills as young girls will transform them from being dependent to totally independent.
“You need to map out a plan for your journey, work towards achieving your goal and spend your time on productive things.
“You all can be extraordinary people by adopting and exercising all these habits which will consequently make you highly effective people,” he advised.
Reiterating that girls need to listen more and coexist with their relevant ecosystem, he advised the teenage girls learning robotics/computing to adopt the habit of prioritizing importance over urgency as it is key to gaining total liberty and independence.
He disclosed that NITDA had a similar program two weeks ago where over 200 kids were trained on different tools such as Blockchain Technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Robotics.
In a conservative environment where women are expected to marry young with their education stampeded, intellectual programs and outreach of this kind will encourage more women to go into the engineering profession and widen their worldview.
