Nasarawa State Governor, Engineer Abdullahi Sule, has called on women from the North to show more interest in acquiring technical education, which he said, can bridge the gap in unemployment.
Engineer Sule made the call while hosting the National Coordinator of Women In Technical Education and Development (WITED), Dr. Mrs. Regina Amadi, on a courtesy visit at the Government House, Wednesday.
While recalling the era when technical education was solely the purvey of men, the Governor expressed satisfaction that women especially from the North are beginning to show interest in technical education.
“Women in the southern part of the country started technical education earlier but to see someone like Dr. Aisha Aliyu from the Northern part to go to the level of Continental Representative for Africa, World Council of Civil Engineers and to have all her education in technical education, was impressive.
“Today, I am also highly impressed to hear all of you who are in technical education, irrespective of whether from the South or North. But I am particularly impressed with those from the North because we hardly saw women from the North showing interest in technical education.
Engineer Sule underscored the significance of technical education, especially at a point when government cannot be able to accomdate all.
“Believe me technical education is valuable in the sense that you can actually be on your own rather than being in government continously. People who want to be in government, there are not enough positions in government to accommodate all. So, if you have technical education and you have the necessary skills you can actually be on your own and become an employer of labour. That’s the whole idea,” he stated.
He used the opportunity of the visit to commend Dr. Justina Anjide Kotso, Rector, Isa Mustapha Agwai Polytechnic Lafia, for working hard to ensure the institution evolves into a true polytechnic.
“Initially, we had a polytechnic without any technical accreditation. Today, we have four technical courses that have accreditation. You can truly say that now we are a polytechnic. It happens during her period, with all the efforts that she puts in and the efforts of her own management and the efforts of everybody who supported to make it happen,” he added.
In her opening remarks, National Coordinator of Women In Technical Education and Development (WITED), Dr. Mrs. Regina Amadi, said WITED was formally launched in 1997 by former military head of state, the late General Sani Abacha, with a view to bridging the gap in technical education and science for women in the country.
Mrs. Amadi explained that a study carried out earlier showed that little or no women participate in technical education and science and even in employment, which informed the decision to establish WITED.
She however said the case is no longer the same with women now featuring prominently in the field of technical education.
“Men were representing WITED coordinators from institutions, especially from the North. But today, I assure you that from the North, I have the highest ranking educated and hard-working women in WITED,” she said.
The National Coordinator disclosed that members of WITED are in Nasarawa State to hold their annual conference, as well as inaugurate the IMAP chapter Coordinator, Dr. Shema’u Abubakar Umar’Ari.
She used the opportunity of the visit to appreciate Engineer Sule for giving women a sense of belonging under his administration.
Also speaking, Rector of IMAP, Dr Justina Anjide Kotso, said WITED is supporting government in its drive to educate, especially the girl-child.
“We believe that, as women, we have a big role to play in our different institutions, issues of students unrest, industrial disharmony. We believe that the way God made us, we are peacemakers. We are homemakers. We try to work with the girl-child, and we try to encourage them that there is light at the end of the dark tunnel,” she said.