NISENI To Double Number Of Female Engineers In Nigeria

Maryam Aminu

In a shared effort to address gender equality across the board, PICTT/NASENI unveils initiative supporting female engineers succeed in engineering and technology based enterprise

The Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu has said the Agency would double the number of female Engineers in Nigeria over the next five years

The EVC/CEO made this pledge on Friday at the NASENI Headquarters, Abuja during the official launch of “Developing Engineering Leaders Through Her” (DELT-Her), an event which also coincided with the global commemoration of International Women’s Day (IWD).

According to Halilu, DELT-HER is an opportunity platform through which girls and young women can pitch and present their exciting and groundbreaking engineering ideas, for funding by NASENI through its Presidential Implementation Committee on Technology Transfer (PICTT).

Speaking further on the project, the EVC said DELT-Her seeks to correct the balance in practice and enterprise development by focusing attention and funding on young women, and very importantly, creating and cultivating public awareness around the need to train and mentor more women into the engineering professions.

He expressed that women makes up half of the population.
what this should ideally mean is that women should make up half of all professional spaces in the country but, for now, this is far from reality.

“The global average for female representation in engineering is 28 per cent. In Nigeria, it is only five percent, only one in 20 Nigerian engineers is a woman. This awareness component of the work is one that we will take very seriously, working through schools, and storytelling campaigns.

“We intend to, through DELT-HER, double the number of female engineers in Nigeria over the next five years. This will mean working extensively at the level of secondary education, which is where young girls make the vital decisions regarding choice of professional field”, said Halilu.

Earlier in his welcome address, Chairman, PICTT, Dr. Mohammed Dahiru stated that, “The Committee, through continuous support of NASENI is determined to fund innovative and commercially viable ideas in engineering and technology-oriented proposals by women. Therefore, today’s launch of call for proposals from young women marks the beginning of a chain of events which are expected to lead to engineering start-up companies owned and run by women.”

In her key note address, the President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Engr. Margaret Aina Oguntala said DELT-HER initiative sought to address the challenges of practice by the female gender, and to unlock the full potentials of women in engineering.

Other goodwill messages at the event included the chairman, Senate Committee on NASENI, Senator Ezenwa Francis Onyewuchi who pledged his support for Women in engineering and science sector to ensure that they are given their rightful position in society.

Others who gave goodwill messages include the Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Citizenship and Leadership, Rinsola Abiola and Chairman, Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria(APWEN), Engr. Mrs. Katume Giwa. The event was graced by students from Government Secondary School, Dasara, Kuje, Abuja.

In a shared effort to address gender equality across the board, PICTT/NASENI unveils initiative supporting female engineers succeed in engineering and technology based enterprise

The Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu has said the Agency would double the number of female Engineers in Nigeria over the next five years

The EVC/CEO made this pledge on Friday at the NASENI Headquarters, Abuja during the official launch of “Developing Engineering Leaders Through Her” (DELT-Her), an event which also coincided with the global commemoration of International Women’s Day (IWD).

According to Halilu, DELT-HER is an opportunity platform through which girls and young women can pitch and present their exciting and groundbreaking engineering ideas, for funding by NASENI through its Presidential Implementation Committee on Technology Transfer (PICTT).

Speaking further on the project, the EVC said DELT-Her seeks to correct the balance in practice and enterprise development by focusing attention and funding on young women, and very importantly, creating and cultivating public awareness around the need to train and mentor more women into the engineering professions.

He expressed that women makes up half of the population.
what this should ideally mean is that women should make up half of all professional spaces in the country but, for now, this is far from reality.

“The global average for female representation in engineering is 28 per cent. In Nigeria, it is only five percent, only one in 20 Nigerian engineers is a woman. This awareness component of the work is one that we will take very seriously, working through schools, and storytelling campaigns.

“We intend to, through DELT-HER, double the number of female engineers in Nigeria over the next five years. This will mean working extensively at the level of secondary education, which is where young girls make the vital decisions regarding choice of professional field”, said Halilu.

Earlier in his welcome address, Chairman, PICTT, Dr. Mohammed Dahiru stated that, “The Committee, through continuous support of NASENI is determined to fund innovative and commercially viable ideas in engineering and technology-oriented proposals by women. Therefore, today’s launch of call for proposals from young women marks the beginning of a chain of events which are expected to lead to engineering start-up companies owned and run by women.”

In her key note address, the President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Engr. Margaret Aina Oguntala said DELT-HER initiative sought to address the challenges of practice by the female gender, and to unlock the full potentials of women in engineering.

Other goodwill messages at the event included the chairman, Senate Committee on NASENI, Senator Ezenwa Francis Onyewuchi who pledged his support for Women in engineering and science sector to ensure that they are given their rightful position in society.

Others who gave goodwill messages include the Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Citizenship and Leadership, Rinsola Abiola and Chairman, Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria(APWEN), Engr. Mrs. Katume Giwa. The event was graced by students from Government Secondary School, Dasara, Kuje, Abuja.