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By Vera Wisdom-Bassey
It was a day of joy when female engineers in Nigeria, under the auspices of Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN), inaugurated Elizabeth Jumoke Eterugho as their 17th president.
Dignitaries from all walks of life and different parts of the county gathered in Lekki, Lagos, to celebrate Eterugho, the ‘Elephant Girl.’
She was picked from among 4,000 professional women engineers in Nigeria to pilot the affairs of the body for the next two years.
Those that attended the occasion included former governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko,as father of the day, chairman/non-executive director, Access Bank Plc, Mrs. Ajoritsedere Awosika, as the keynote speaker, president of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Tasiu Saa’d Gidari Wudil, and founder of APWEN, Olu Maduka, among others, while the governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, was represented by Aramide Adeyoye.
Speaking at the event immediate past president of the body, Fummilayo Ojelade, praised God for seeing her through her tenure even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic that brought the world to its knees.
She said, during her tenure, different programmes were launched that were targeted at the girl-child. They were: “Town and Gown, Massive Online Open Courses, Tools and Tiara, and Who Wants to be an Engineer?” among others.
According to her, there were programmes for every member of the body, as well as catching them young and providing educational platform for every girl-child, from primary to tertiary level, who wished to become an engineer,
Eterugho remarked that she offered to serve in order to stand where other past presidents stood to serve. She has served in various leadership positions before now, and she was prepared to use her office for the good of the country and the girl-child, especially as she has in the past championed “Invent it, Build it,” meant to train girls in engineering.
The keynote speaker, Awosika, called on all engineers to work towards reducing unemployment among female engineers in the country, despite the large pool of technology and resources reposed in the country. She said engineers must map out development opportunities for the economy for the good of Nigeria.
Awosika also remarked that accountability on the part of women would lead to transparency and eliminate corruption in different ways. But she stressed that, if government wants to succeed, it should engage more women contractors.
On his part, Mimiko was of the opinion that Nigeria could be great through collective efforts by all stakeholders.
His words: “It is the vision of the political class and the political will to drive change that can change the country. If you want to drive development, you must start with women, even the security in the country must start with women. The development we desire must come from women.”
He called on the political class to challenge women engineers and award them contracts and see how they would flourish and accomplish the task.
