Nigerian government has trained over 10,000 women, including Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to improve national productivity.
Mr Morrison Udobong, ICT Director, National Centre for Women Development (NCWD), said this at the closing ceremony of a five-day entrepreneurial training for the blind, deaf and hard of hearing in Abuja on Friday.
Udobong said the training was also a strategy to empower and end Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the country.
He said although ICT was male dominated, there was the need to encourage more women, particularly girls to adopt Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics subjects, and consider a future in technology.
He said the training was also to expose Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to ICT, enable them integrate well in the society and promote access to healthcare and other services.
“Over the years, we have trained over 10,000 women on various ICT courses and feedback from monitoring officers showed they are all doing well in their chosen endeavours.
“During this programme, participants with disabilities were exposed to various Computer Aided & Adaptive Technologies required to educate, raise self esteem, integrate and empower them to be useful and productive in their endeavours,” he said.
Dr Asabe Vilita-Bashir, Director-General, NCWD, said about 65 blind and deaf women across the states graduated from the training.
“This is aimed at exposing the participants to various ICT applications, tools and techniques which have the potential to make significant improvement in the lives of persons with disabilities.
“This allows participants to enhance their social, cultural, political and economic integration in communities by enlarging the scope of activities available to them,” she said.
Vilita-Bashir noted that the training would empower rural women economically and make them more productive and self-reliant.
“We will continue to advocate the rights and needs of persons with disabilities and foster the effective use of ICTs that are accessible, adaptive and affordable.
“ICT has now been recognised as the driving force and primary gadget for almost all progressive knowledge-based and skills-oriented development activities and initiatives in all spheres of human endeavor.
“ICT is the catalyst for change in working conditions, handling and exchanging of information, teaching methods, learning approaches, scientific research and in accessing information,” she said.
Also, Mrs Pauline Tallen, Minister of Women Affairs, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mr Adebiyi Olufunsho, stressed the need for the society to acknowledge the challenges of PWDs and accommodate them.
According to Tallen, this will help to entrench development and inclusiveness.
Also, Ms Anne Mukudi, representing African Development Bank, encouraged participants to use the skills and knowledge acquired to develop themselves and feature in the ICT world.
The president, National Association of Blind, Abuja chapter, Mr Joseph Agada, expressed appreciation to the federal government for supporting PWDs and appealed for more employment for members.
Speaking on behalf of the participants, Ms Uche Andrew, assured the government that they would make judicious use of the laptops and skills acquired to further develop themselves on ICT.
“Before now, we used to see, feel and hear about laptops without knowing how to operate it, but this training has given us the required skills to be self reliant, able to use and access information from it,” Andrew said.
Highlights of the events included the distribution of brand-new laptops, certificates and stipends for transportation to all the participants.
