Representative of Wife of Mr President and Rivers State Coordinator of Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), Lady Valerie Siminalayi Fubara (2nd left); President, University of Port Harcourt Women’s Association and wife of the Vice Chancellor, Prof Udeme Georgewill (left); Huawei representative, Dr Nihilola Fafori (2nd right); and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), UNIPORT, Prof Iyeopu Siminalayi (right); during the launch of the Huawei/RHI Women in Tech Skills Training for Women Entrepreneurs at the University of Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
By Dianabasi Effiong
The wife of the President and National Chairman of Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, has charged women to use the opportunity provided by technology to rewrite the negative narrative against Nigeria in cyberspace that is in sharp contrast with the country’s true national value.
Sen. Tinubu gave the charge while declaring open a two-day Women in Tech Skills Training for Women Entrepreneurs for the South-South Region, organized by the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) in partnership with Huawei, at the African Centre for Excellence, University of Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
She has also urged women to start the process of building a solid value-based foundation to launch Nigeria into the technology world in the next decade.
Nigeria’s First Lady was represented by the Wife of the Rivers State Governor and State Coordinator of the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), Lady Valerie Siminalayi Fubara.
Sen. Tinubu said that with Nigeria facing enormous challenges amidst a negative narrative, every citizen of the country, particularly women, should use every available opportunity to project it in a positive trajectory.
She said, “this training programme, jointly coordinated by technology giant Huawei and the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), a pet project of the Wife of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a gateway programme targetted at raising the number and influence of women in technology in Nigeria.
“Our nation is facing a tough time with the narrative being presented through cyberspace. This narrative, which does not represent our true value, is a sad testimonial of our national image, and it must be corrected. I believe that rewriting the narrative starts with you.
“Every citizen owes it to this country to use every opportunity available to put Nigeria on a positive pedestal. I am aware that women have always occupied strategic positions in development planning in Nigeria, and as the world continues to evolve, especially in technology-driven disciplines, it is only very necessary to immediately commence the building of a solid value-based foundation for Nigeria’s sojourn in the tech world in the next decade”.
The wife of the President, who stressed the strategic roles women play in society and the challenges faced as a result of gender bias, lack of representation and access to leadership, added that the programme was initiated to develop and grow more women who are determined, skilful and committed to breaking new grounds in tech development.
Sen. Tinubu, while noting the leading role of Germany, France and others in the tech business as a result of a deliberate plan to achieve set goals, stressed optimism that Nigerian women could also become world leaders through deliberate training and nurturing to achieve the desired aim.
She said, “in partnering with Huawei for this training, the Renewed Hope Initiative is not oblivious of the strategic roles women play in the healthcare and health services sector, the educational sector, and indeed, in government and private sector organisations.
“However, it is our conviction that, given the enormous endowment of every Nigerian woman, there should be a deliberate focus on finding ways of increasing their productivity, especially in technology-driven areas.
“It is obvious that the biggest underlying challenges have always been gender bias, lack of representation, and lack of access to leadership opportunities, and that is precisely why the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) has floated this programme to grow more determined and skilful women that are committed to staying focused in breaking new grounds in tech development.”
According to her, Germany, France and others around the World are leading in the tech business today because there was a deliberate plan to do so.
“It is, therefore, our conviction that Nigerian women can rise to be world beaters if we make deliberate plans to train, nurture and position them for such sectoral leads,” she said.
The wife of the President who also lauded the great potential inherent in women, urged them to build more frontiers for networking, skills-building initiatives and fostering new areas of mentorship for the younger generation of women committed to tech development.
Some of the women entrepreneurs undergoing the Women in Tech Skills Training at the Centre of Excellence, University of Port Harcourt.
“The Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) believes that every woman here has great potential. I, therefore, urge you to build more frontiers for networking with global women in tech movement and skills-building initiatives and also foster new areas of mentorship for the younger generation of women interested in tech development.
“When you do this, rest assured that you will have built the future of e-governance business and championed the course of a new position thinking, tech service generation of Nigerians on all fronts,” she said.
She therefore called on Nigerian women, irrespective of ethnic affiliation, to continue to support the efforts of the Wife of the President in uplifting society through the RHI.
The First Lady said, “it gives me great pleasure to be part of today’s event. When I was called upon to represent our beloved mother, Her Excellency Senator Oluremi Tinubu, CON, Wife of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, in this event, I saw it as an opportunity to meet with women who have the capacity and knowledge to shape the country of our dream.
“I am, therefore, delighted to represent our First Lady, a woman whose vision in the transformation of female values in Nigeria is unequivocal, and I call on Nigerian women, irrespective of ethnic affiliation, to support her genuine efforts in uplifting the family through quality programmes embarked upon under the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI).”
In his goodwill message, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt, Prof. Owunari Georgewill, expressed gratitude to the wife of the President, for initiating the programme geared towards upscaling women in technological skills.
Represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, Prof. Iyeopu Siminalayi, Georgewill noted the partnership that had existed between the university and Huawei in upscaling its students in IT skills like networking and cyber security.
Georgewill commended Huawei for partnering with the First Lady of Nigeria to undertake the programme while expressing the belief that the programme will benefit the women in the state who are being underrepresented in the tech world.
In his welcome address, the Managing Director of Huawei, who spoke through the Country Representative, Dr Nihinlola Fafori, said the programme is the 5th batch of the RHI’s Women in Tech Training, which covers the South-South Region.
Fafori stated that the programme, which had been on since the first quarter of this year, had covered over four geo-political zones with about 25 states in Nigeria.
She emphasised that the training would enable participants to drive their businesses through technology and explore more opportunities within the tools that would enable their businesses to reach other consumers in Nigeria and globally.
Presenting the Training Overview, Huawei Consultant, Chinedu Ogbiede, noted that the training would allow participants to understand the role of women in ICT, become more employable, run their businesses better, harness the potentials of ICT, and support their families and communities.
He said that with the training, the era of ‘I don’t know where to start’ is over because with the aid of technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI), they would be able to launch a business.
Speaking on behalf of the participants, Mrs Efe Ovrine lauded the wife of the President for putting the programme together to train women and empower them technologically.
She also assured that they would utilise the experience gained to impact society.
