The Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) has trained 16 girls aged 11 to 17 in Kwara State in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) to bridge the digital gender gap.
The programme officer and state coordinator of W.TEC, Mrs Kawthar Ibiyeye, said in Ilorin, during the closing ceremony of the one-week camping exercise, that the programme was designed to train the girls to pursue careers in STEM.
She said the programme, tagged “W.TEC She Creates Camp 2026”, among other things, was to build the beneficiaries’ intelligence, confidence, and technology skills, and to get them to think not just as girls but as leaders in the creative space.
“The reason why we are focusing our efforts on girls is the fact that when it comes to the future of technology, we noticed that the girls tend to shy away a bit, compared to the boys, especially the generation that we’re training.
“So, our effort is to bridge that gap because it’s a global thing; we have more men in the field of technology, building things, doing so much,” she said.
“Now W.TEC is trying to bridge that tech gap and see that through learning in camps like this, we can get our girls more interested in taking up careers in the field of STEM,” she said.
Ibiyeye, however, urged the girls to build on what they have learnt, develop themselves further, and put their lessons to use.
The executive director of W.TEC, Mrs Oreoluwa Lesi, said the programme was designed to teach girls in secondary school how to take over the world with technology.
The Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Dr Lawal Olohungbebe, said the initiative complemented the Kwara government’s vision of building a knowledge-driven economy powered by innovation and human capital development.
Lawal, represented by the ministry’s director, Human Capital Development, Mrs Victoria Ajide, said the world is changing rapidly, and technology is shaping every sector of our economy.
The guest speaker, Mrs Hassanat Bello, urged the participants to embrace technology responsibly, “as though a powerful tool, its value depends on how it is used.”
One of the participants, Fatimah Alege, who won the Best Camper, said the camp taught her things she never imagined she could learn.
A parent, Mrs Shukura Muhammed, said that, with the experience her daughter gained at the 2025 Camping programme, her daughter is presently representing Nigeria in an AI and coding programme on the global stage.
“So, I am more than convinced to bring her younger sister this year because I can see the impact,” she said.
