ASHENEWS report that the immediate past President of the Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN), Engineer Elizabeth Jumoke Eterigho, has called on women engineers to harness innovation and technological advancement to drive solutions to societal challenges and influence national development.
Delivering a keynote address titled “Innovation for Change: The Role of Women Engineers in Shaping the Future” at the inauguration of the second Chairman of the APWEN NNPC Limited Chapter, held at Reiz Continental Hotel in Abuja, Eterigho emphasized that women must move beyond traditional roles to take up leadership positions in engineering and innovation spaces.
“With only 15 per cent of the global engineering workforce made up of women, the time has come for us to challenge stereotypes and build a more inclusive, equitable future through innovation,” she said.
The APWEN President highlighted the critical role women engineers play in addressing pressing issues such as climate change, poverty, digital transformation, and infrastructural deficits.
She urged them to adopt forward-thinking approaches, including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and software development, to shape a sustainable and resilient future.
She called on the engineering community to dismantle longstanding gender barriers and champion innovation driven by empathy, strategic thinking, and collaborative effort while urging the audience to leverage the innovative capacities to tackle pressing global challenges like climate change, poverty, and infrastructural decay.
Eterigho who was represented by Engineer Mistura Rafiu commended the resilience of women in the profession despite existing structural barriers, citing the achievements of past APWEN leaders and trailblazers who paved the way for younger generations stressing the need for mentorship, capacity-building, and access to leadership opportunities as tools to accelerate gender parity in the engineering sector.
The keynote address also echoed APWEN’s long-standing commitment to empowering women and girls through education and advocacy as Eterigho encouraged fenale engineers to put in more effort to inspire young girls to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers.
She congratulated the new chairman, Engr. Adefunke Adekunle, on her inauguration and urged her to remain a beacon of leadership and innovation for the chapter.
The event brought together female engineers, industry stakeholders, and guests from across the country.
