A call has been made to government at different levels in the country to come up with a well-articulated and sustainable blueprint or policy for the promotion and encouragement of the interest of the girl-child in areas presently considered as exclusive preserve of men.
Oladele Amoda MD/CEO of Eko Electricity Distribution Company, made this call in Lagos while speaking at a programme for some female children of employees of the company. The programme tagged, ‘Bring Your Daughter to Work Day’, was a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, jointly sponsored by Eko Disco, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and United States Energy Association (USEA). It was aimed at improving gender diversity in the power sector.
Amoda said that the evolvement of a sustainable blueprint for arousing the interest of young girls in the engineering profession was necessary so as to reduce the present dominance of men in the profession.
The Eko Disco Chief added that since women have excelled in other fields of human endeavour, it was high time they explored other areas still being regarded as the exclusive preserve of the menfolk.
Speaking further, Amoda said with the invaluable role being played in the socio-economic development of many nations, any nation that neglects the development and capacity building of the girl-child does so at its own risk.
Describing Eko Disco as a model in gender balancing and inclusiveness, he noted that women occupied four out of the seven topmost positions in the company.
He then expressed the hope that the programme would have a long-lasting positive impact on participants who were all female children of employees of the company.
According to him, apart from knowing where their parents work and meeting with some of their parents’ colleagues, the children would also understand better the intricacies of electricity supply process as well as knowing what it takes to pursue a career in electrical and electronic engineering.
While expressing his delight that the company was the first to host such a programme among electricity distribution companies in Nigeria, Amoda enjoined other corporate and governmental institutions to take a cue from Eko Disco by developing deeper interest in the capacity building of the girl-child through various programmes that can expose young girls to opportunities and prospects open to them in modern society.
Also speaking at the occasion, representatives of USAID and USEA Hellen Dragotto and Claire Novak, expressed delight at the success of the programme.
According to them, apart from Nigeria, the programme would also take place in some selected countries in the African continent.
