Nigeria’s first submarine cable company, Messrs MainOne
Cable Company Limited, has planned to host the first ICT Girls Day to be hosted
in Nigeria and chaired by Chief Executive Officer of MainOne Cable Company
Limited, Ms Funke Opeke,.
 |
| Funke Opeke, CEO, MainOne Cable |
Aside from chairing the event, MainOne Cable Company has
also offered to be the platinum sponsor of the event, which has the objective
of sensitizing young girls on the opportunities and relevance of getting into
ICT as a profession.
The event, which will hold at the Golden Gate Restaurant,
Ikoyi on April 26, is part of an initiative of the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU), and is being hosted in Nigeria by eBusiness Life
Communication, publishers of eBusiness Life Magazine.
In a letter to eBusiness Life, Ms. Funke Opeke, acknowledged
the importance of having women in the profession, noting that the quest is what
MainOne would like to partner eBusiness Life on.
“We will be delighted to support and I will be glad to
chair,” she stated in the mail.
A press statement endorsed by chief executive officer,
eBusiness Life, Mrs. Ufuoma Emuophedaro, said the one-day workshop is going to
be a part of a long-running campaign meant to sensitize young girls and all
stakeholders involved in moulding their careers path, on the need to take up
ICT as a profession.
Ms. Opeke was quoted as urging other companies that have the
growth of Nigeria’s ICT industry in mind to join in ensuring that the event is
a huge success.
Mrs. Emuophedaro explained that as the chairperson, Ms.
Opeke would steer the direction of the event and coordinate the panel of
discussants and student competition. She will also address participating
students in her capacity as an entrepreneur and professional ICT woman.
In her reaction, Mrs. Emuophedaro, noted that corporate
organisations should be interested in the campaign because it is the right
thing to do at this time of ICT development.
“This is the right thing to do. If other countries have
observed the need to grow this industry through encouraging young girls, then,
we should not be left behind. We must make sure that our young girls are given
the chance to prove themselves in this all-important field.”
She stated that the ICT Girls’ Day workshop and subsequent
campaign will further open up opportunities for girls in ICT sector.
The International Girls’ Day is an initiative launched through
ITU Resolution 70 with the idea of creating a global environment that will
empower and encourage girls and young women to consider careers in the field of
information and communication technologies. The Union declared the 4th (fourth)
Thursday of April every year as a day of encouragement to girls and young women
to consider careers in ICT and society is reminded to support them in their choice.
As said by her, the pilot projects and campaigns have been
launched in a number of countries for about 20 years, with the aim to change
girls' and young women's behaviour patterns with regard to their choice of
career and to expand their spectrum of career options.
As part of the 2012 event, there will be quiz and debate
competitions between female students from selected secondary schools,
roundtable discussion, interactive and motivational talk from renowned women
ICT professionals, among others.
Further, she said that Ms. Opeke the founder of Main One
Cable Company, operators of a submarine cable system linking countries in West
and Central Africa with each other and connecting in Europe with other existing
cable systems, linking the Americas and Asia.
Ms. Opeke worked in the United States (US)
telecommunications industry for over 20 years before joining MTN Nigeria as the
Chief Technical Officer, and subsequently advised Transcorp on the
privatization of NITEL, and served briefly as Chief Operating Officer of NITEL.
Prior to her return to Nigeria, Ms. Opeke was Executive
Director, Performance Assurance, the Wholesale Division of Verizon
Communications, New York.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in Electronics and
Electrical Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife in 1981 and a
Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University, New York in
May 1984. Ms. Opeke is a member of the Institute of Electronic and Electrical
Engineering, USA and the Nigerian Society of Engineers with dual citizenship of
the United States and Nigeria.
Remmy Nweke
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