NITDA moves to improve Women, Girls literacy in ICT as 150 benefits in North-East

No fewer than 150 women in the North-East geo-political zone have benefitted from training on Information and Communication Technology (ICT), organized by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

Speaking at the end of the five-day training in Gombe on Friday, the Director General of NITDA, Alhaji Isa Pantami, said that the objective of the exercise was to empower the women in the ICT sector.

“Statistically, if you look globally, the percentage of women in ICT is very insignificant and in under-developed and developing countries, the gap is wide.

“So, it is necessary for us to come up with some initiatives that will support us in Nigeria to bridge the gap between males and females.

“That is why we introduced women in ICT, which is only for women and girls, in order to give them the necessary support and encouragement, as well as make them realise the importance of ICT,” he said.

He called on the participants to use the knowledge acquired to train other women close to them so as to promote ICT literacy.

“Please make sure you train at least 10 other females each; you may wish to train 100 or 1000, but I plead with you to train a minimum of 10.

“In addition, if you train a minimum of 10, plead with them to train a minimum of five and this will continue to penetrate,” he said.

According to him, the agency will embark on the same programme in other geo-political zones.

The Adamawa State Governor, Mr Mohammed Bindow, represented by his Commissioner for information, Ibrahim Sajo, spoke on behalf of the North-East Governors.

Bindow commended NITDA and the Federal Government for bringing the programme to the North-East.

He said that this would help in alleviating poverty and other challenges in the zone, especially among women, who represented more than 60 per cent of the population.

“We are indeed very grateful and we take it very serious when it comes to the development of our people,” he said.

The governor, however, advised NITDA to put in place, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms towards ensuring that there was continuity and development on the previous training.

He also advised the participants to take full advantage of the exercise to develop themselves.

In his remarks, the Gombe State Commissioner for Higher Education, Alhaji Isa Wade, lauded the NITDA, while urging the trainees to encourage their relatives and friends to acquire ICT knowledge.

He said that the training was timely and would contribute towards women development and empowerment.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the participants were supported with Laptops, internet facilities and cash.