Jul

27

By Karin ter Horst

I’m getting more and more integrated in the Nigerian society. My stomach is able to handle my dinner and I’m greeting people by saying: ‘How far?!’ I’ve to tell you that the conversation is directly over at the same moment, but so far it’s fine. I also know now that I shouldn’t pay 3000 naira’s for a trip of five minutes in a cab and that I have to talk about the softness of the corn that I want to buy at the market.

But there’s something and I can’t get used to it. People want to take pictures of me, all the time. I’m not that popular in the Netherlands, you have to know. It’s not that I’m special, but my Dutch presence just stands out more here. The same thing happened last week. One of the girls who had applied for the 3rd W.TEC Girls Technology Camp had already finished her selection test and interview, when she returned to the office to snap a picture. With me.

At this moment we’re very busy with the preparations of the camp, which will be starting in about two weeks. I was really surprised to meet girls who have never touched or used a computer. Off course, I’m from the Netherlands where a lot of things are just normal and possible. There’s always water, electricity, good education for everyone and a minimum salary in any case. In my work at W.TEC I face the differences between countries.

Dutch people aren’t better persons and life in general isn’t better in the Netherlands. No, in the Netherlands there are more opportunities. These opportunities offering better possibilities in the future. I’ve met a lot of motivated and ambitious Nigerians in the last few weeks. There are enough people who want to work hard and want to learn. But the possibilities and needed support aren’t there.

I came here to change the world, to make a change. But I realize and I know it’s not possible for me in 6 weeks in Africa – to be realistic. But an important thing is that you have to start somewhere. Every single person who will face better opportunities to develop themselves and others is worthy. Besides, in my opinion the local people are the real change agents. They have the ability to communicate in the common way and to connect with the right people. I’ve a lot of respect for the activities and the employees from W.TEC. Women and girls will be given the chance to equip themselves with ICT- and leadership skills. That empowers them and makes them able to develop themselves. These women and girls are the people who can have the needed impact in the Nigerian society in the future.

When I will leave Africa, the world will be still the same. There will be still a gap between poor and rich. Just a little group of the children will have the same possibilities in here as in the Netherlands. But I will bring an inspiring experience back home and I would have had the chance to deliver my contribution to the development of 15 wonderful Nigerian girls – the girls who are going to make the difference within a few years in the Nigerian society. And also a very important contribution: there are some people in Lagos who has a photo with a smiling oyibo.

Mar

23

Josephine Nzerem, Human Angle, Amy Oyekunle, KIND, Engr. Oyindamola Adelowo, Chairperson, W.TEC Board of Trustees and Oreoluwa Somolu, Executive Director, W.TEC at the W.TEC's celebration of International Women's Week

Omokemi Akinbodunse

W.TEC’s Celebration of International Women Week Workshop was held on Friday, 12 March 2010 at Tom Associates, 5/7 Alade Lawal Street, Anthony Village, Lagos

The purpose of the workshop was to;
1. Increase awareness on the disadvantaged position of women in Nigeria
2. Draw up commitments for the road map for Equal Right, Equal Opportunity,
Progress for All
3. Increase women’s awareness on the need to take up strategic positions in governance/politics and indeed increase the population of women in governance/politics.

The workshop was attended by participants from Lagos State government parastatals (such as the Lagos State Ministry of Youth, Sports and Social Development and Office of the Public Defender), the media (the Guardian Newspaper, the Nations Newspaper, the Champion Newspaper and also the Spectators), female youth leaders and women from local government councils and developments areas (such as the Mainland Local Government Council, Lagos Island East Local Development Area, Lagos Island West Local Government Council, Ikoyi-Obalende Local Government Development Area, Onike/Onitire Community Development Areas (CDA), Alaka CDA etc), religious groups, sister NGOs, donor agencies and private corporate bodies.

The first presentation, Equal Right, Equal Opportunities, Progress for All after the welcome address by Omokemi Akinbodunse, was made by Josephine Nzerem, Executive Director of Human Angle. The second presentation, The Importance of Being a Politically Engaged Woman. was made by Amy Oyekunle, Executive Director of Kudirat Initiatives For Democracy (KIND), Miss Oreoluwa Somolu, Executive Director, W.TEC made the third presentation, Educating, Connecting & Empowering Women Through Technology.

Good will messages were made by Mrs Esther Bashorun from the Office of the Public Defender and by Mrs Ebiti Ndok the flag bearer of United National Party for Development (UNPD). The women in their good will messages encouraged women to be bold and stand up to their rights.

Participants at the workshop were told to say no to patriarchal norms and practices that are injurious to their rights. They were enjoined to come out of their safe zones, get involve in politics and vie for positions in government particularly in the legislature.

A cross section of participants at the workshop

The workshop was enthused by the case of Uzoma Okere who made a galactic impact on Nigerian’s women right record through a camera phone that was used to view the incident of violence. The audience was talked out of the myth that technology related professions are the preserve of the male folks. They were advised to be internet friendly and use Web 2.0 and social websites such as the facebook and twitter to change their world and the lot of women in Nigeria.

The workshop was intriguing and mind blowing. Participants at the end of the workshop committed themselves to be more active in governance and be more technologically ambitious and exposed. They wanted to know of W.TEC training programmes and participate.

Jan

14

PSA: Online Scams

January 14, 2010 | 1 Comment

Most people should know that you can’t believe everything you read on the internet, especially when it comes to emails that purport to hold the key to getting rich quickly. When something sounds too good to be real, it usually is. However, online scams have become more sophisticated over the years.

If you get an email from what you think is your bank or any institution that you have an account with asking you to verify some details if not your account will be shut-down, please IGNORE this and call your bank/institution directly to check. And DO NOT use the numbers provided within the email; use the phone numbers that you are already familiar with (check your past correspondences with them).

A sample scam or phishing tactic is as follows:

*****************************************

GTB Logo

Dear Guaranty Trust Bank Customer:

We regret to inform you that access to your GTBank Online Account and Atm Cards has been temporarily limited.This might have occurred due to a recent change in your personal information. (eg: change of address,PIN number or billing address) or submission of incorrect information during initial registration .To restore your account please log in correctly here:

Please verify and update your account details by clicking on the link below:

http://www.URL.com/

Failure to verify your information might lead to the temporary suspension of your account access for security reasons.

*****************************************

Dec

6

By Omokemi

Once a man carries out all necessary marriage rites and the woman start living with him, he may find it extremely difficult to continue regular visits to his in laws’ place while he expects his wife to be consistent with her visits to his parents’ place.

He may feed his relations regularly with issues coming up between him and his wife even when such issues are supposed to be the couple’s secrets.

He brings minor disagreements at the home front before his relations who readily paint the wife bad and ungrateful.

The cause for the birth of female children is placed on the woman, who is also blamed for being an obstacle to the man’s progress because half of money demanded for housekeep, if saved could have been used by the man to build a house.

His relations believe, he would have been better off, if he had married a woman from his hometown.

Does the above portray the way you treat your wife/sister in law and present her to your family? Be sensitised on the right of a woman. Say no to violence against women.

Nov

28

By Omokemi

A number of actions have been taken to reduce gender inequality and violence against women. Examples of such actions are as follows;

1.    The springing up of NGOs and CBOs to address the issues of gender inequality and violence against women.

2.   Creation of laws in some states to declare as criminal offence the practice of obnoxious widowhood rites.

3.   Creation of widow friendly laws like the Lagos State Administration of Estates (Small Estate Payments Exemption) Law 2005 which gives dependants of deceased, who died intestate and where the monetary value of his total estate is not more than N100,000, the right to obtain Letter of Administration on such estates without payment of any estate fee.

4.  Execution of policies such as the Better Life & Family Support Programme which through women cooperatives, women were assisted to access improved technology and farm products.

It is good news that we are getting more women in professions such as law, medicine, engineering which were hitherto dominated by men.

There are however still a lot to be done on gender equality and reduction of violence against women in Nigeria. Women are under represented in the economic and political scene. Of all the 360 members of the House of the Representatives only 25 are women and of all the 109 members of the Senate only 9 members are women. As beautiful and promising as the Lagos State Administration of Estates (Small Estate Payments Exemption) Law 2005 is, it is yet to be operated at the Lagos State Probate Registry since four years ago when it was passed into law. The Battered Women Support Services Bill in the House of Representatives is yet to see the light of the day

However, issues on violence against women at times bring up nuts that can really be difficult to crack. Tell me, how can a man be charged for raping his wife where before the incident, they have both been living happily together?

Nov

27

By Omokemi

Just as girls in some parts of the country are excluded from decision making concerning their choice of spouse, women are often not allowed to take part in decisions on how many children to have or when to have them. The right to make such decisions at most times is the exclusive preserve of the man. When family meetings are called to discuss important issues like inheritance, women are excluded. They are informed of the proceedings of the meeting, by the male counter parts,  at the end of the meeting. Their opinions are never sought for even when the issues discussed directly affect them. This is highly prejudicial to the widow, who is often deprived of any right to the property left by her deceased husband, irrespective of whether or not she had joint ownership of the property.

Women are prone to violence due to a number of factors, foremost amongst which is the fact that the Nigerian society is a patriarchal one. Nigerian laws, customs and traditions are structured in such a manner that they favour men more.  (A good example of this is the conditions required for a case of rape to be proved. The conditions are such that a girl would rather keep quiet rather than get more traumatised in the law court. while trying to prove that she was raped) This is explains the restriction in the woman’s accessibility to property, land and financial credit facilities compared to her male counterparts contrarily to Article 13 of CEDAW.  Stay clued to us as we explain to you tomorrow, measures that have been taken to improve the state of the Nigerian woman and what is yet to be done.

Nov

13

Nuptial Knot!

November 13, 2009 | 1 Comment

By Omokemi

Our associates Ms. Omonor Imobhio and Mr. Foluseke Somolu (both facilitators in W.TEC’s Girls Technology Camp 2008 and 2009) tied the nuptial knot on Saturday, November 7, 2009. The Staff, Management and Board of W.TEC wish the couple, a happy and successful marriage. Your marriage shall be a blessing, your children shall surround your table, you shall see your children’s children so saith the Lord of Host, Amen.

Omonor & Foluseke

Oct

28

The Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC) of Women in Computing Conference, an initiative of Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology in Tucson, Arizona which took place from September 30 to October 3, 2009 was a huge success. The conference which is a yearly programme is designed to bring research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront and also celebrate female folks who through technology have contributed to the social and economic development of their communities. This year’s winners were Oreoluwa Somolu, W.TEC, Lagos, Nigeria, Halima Ibrahim, Mu’assassatul Mar’aatus Saliha Women’s Skill Acquisition Centre, Bauchi, Nigeria and Anne Ikiara-Kabaara,Nairobits Trust, Nairobi, Kenya.

We celebrate with our Executive Director for this landmark achievement. Oreoluwa Somolu, a woman of inner beauty, quiet wits and great mind, we are very proud of you

Oct

23

First Week With W.TEC

October 23, 2009 | 1 Comment

kemi's photograph

kemi's photograph

Hi! My name is Omolade Omokemi Akinbodunse, please call me, Kemi. I joined W.TEC  this week. I have been in the NGO world for 11years. Before now I have been involved in protecting and promoting the right of children, adolescents and women particularly widows through counseling, mediation, litigation and liaising with third party individuals and institutions.

I major in law and have written a couple of articles and have organized and attended a number of conferences and seminars within and outside Nigeria.

I’m in W.TEC to help with sustainability plan and development and also help with research work.

Exploits in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is quite a grey area for me. However, I’m willing to navigate and explore the ICT world. Please wish me good luck! Thank you.

May

15

By Oreoluwa Somolu and ‘Gbenga Sesan

May 17 is World Information Society Day. To understand its significance in history, it is important to journey back 144 years ago. That same day in 1865, the first International Telegraph Convention was signed and the International Telegraph Union (the second-oldest international organization in existence) was established. That same institution became the International Telecommunications Union in 1947 – the same year that the transistor was first demonstrated, with the solid-state computer soon to follow. Since 1969, May 17 has been celebrated as the World Telecommunication Day. Thirty-seven years later, following the World Summit on the Information Society, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution which identifies 17 May as World Information Society Day. The day is intended to remind the world of the vision of the World Summit on the Information Society, which promised to build “a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented information society” based on fundamental human rights. According to the UN resolution, the Day will “help to raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICTs) can bring to societies and economies, as well as of ways to bridge the digital divide“.

The Nigerian telecommunications industry – which started with the postal system – is now over 100 years old, but it was only in 1999 that the National Policy on Telecommunications was launched. A National Policy on Information Technology followed in 2001, along with the establishment of the National Information Technology Development Agency, under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology. Fortunately, Nigeria’s participation in the World Summit on the Information Society process helped shed more light on the need for Nigeria to benefit from the undeniable convergence that has brought Information Technology, telecommunications and content together for good. At about the same period in Nigeria’s history, a telecommunication revolution was born – with the number of telephone lines growing from 450,000 in 2000 to over 14 million lines in 2005, and now 66.6 million, thanks to independent regulation through the Nigerian Communications Commission, private sector participation, broadened competition, and consumer spending. Many benefits have come to the Nigerian Information Society since then, including a rapid rise in the number of Internet users from 200,000 in 2000 to 10 million today! Many of these users are also contributing to the growth of local content on the World Wide Web, which was previously lacking in content from Nigeria. The private sector and civil society (including the media) also continue to add immense value, using varied models to work towards the task of bridging the digital divide.

Building a strong and vibrant information society that is accessible to all Nigerians is at the heart of W.TEC and PIN’s work. The Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) is a Nigerian non-governmental organization helping to empower Nigerian girls and women socially and economically using ICTs. This is done through technology literacy training, technology-based projects, mentoring, work placement and research. Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN) is a social enterprise that connects young people – especially those in underserved communities – with the opportunities that ICTs provide. We do this through our Ajegunle.org initiative, Information Society research, capacity building sessions for youth across Nigeria and the Internet Safety, Security and Privacy Initiative for Nigeria, among others. PIN’s program graduates have gone on to demonstrate the impact of ICTs on their small-scale businesses and through inspiring career progress!

This year, W.TEC and PIN wish to commemorate the World Information Society Day by appreciating ongoing initiatives in various sectors and calling on all stakeholders (government, private sector, civil society, media, individuals, etc) to act faster on efforts that will improve Nigeria’s opportunity to maximise the benefits of the Information Society. Please join us to spread the message, “Nigeria’s Information Society is making progress but we call on stakeholders to act faster. Our ‘20:2020’ vision depends on our ICT prowess!” on May 17 by:
- Lending us your Twitter or Facebook status message;
- Changing your email signature to reflect this message;
- Sending this article to 5 friends;
- Discussing the impact of ICTs in your life with friends and family;
- Volunteering for a non-profit ICT initiative before the next WISD anniversary.

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