Girls in ICT 2016: Education prepares girls for great future - Danbatta

ITRealms:

The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta has identified education as key of great future for girls, especially in attracting girls to the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector, reports ITRealms.

In a speech at the 2016 the e-BusinessLife magazine organized International Girls in ICT in Lagos on today, Thursday, Prof. Danbatta said that Nigerian telecom industry is not unmindful of the fact that ICT is not a standalone in the attainment of career or academic excellence.

"Its also a message to girls that preparing for a great future demands taking education very seriously to enable them attain a level where they will be able to appreciate the importance of ICT and embrace it as careers," he said.

According to him, it is instructive that ICT provides the biggest resource in the academic lives. Noting for instance, that the Internet, which is a major repository of academic resources, is increasingly becoming accessible to many Nigerians. 

"As at the last count, more than 97 Million Nigerian have access to the Internet. This figure is expected to increase exponentially if all the current plans for infrastructure expansion and broadband deployments across the country come into fruition. Cost of smartphones capable of accessing the Internet and different apps are also becoming affordable," he said.

The Commission, Danbatta said has continued to provide facilities under the Digital Access Programme (DAP) where we provide computers and access to support secondary and vocational schools. Pointed out that whilst this support is not provided for girls schools alone, the idea is to enable students, including women to embrace the digital world as early as the secondary school stage.

"We have been able to provide sponsorship for digital innovations to encourage creativity in the ICT world. Girls are always in the team of innovators at successive competitions hosted by the ITU at the annual ITU World events and the Commission has provided sponsorships to successful participants," he said.

These, the NCC boss noted, are some of the ways that the Commission has contributed to empowering girls to choose careers in the ICT industry in line with the objectives.