Sopuruchi Onwuka

Leading gender equity advocate in Africa, Women in Energy Network (WIEN), on Thursday adopted over 200 college girls for mentorship to prepare them for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

According to WIEN, the mentorship programme assigns the students to real life coaches that would assist them through career choices. It also provides internship opportunities and field exposures to the students during holiday periods.

The event was part of the Career Fair being hosted by WIEN for female secondary school students in STEM in Lagos and Port Harcourt to commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day.

A section of students drawn from schools in the four zones of Lagos State at the WIEN Career Fairs Girls

 

WIEN has been very strident in its call for gender equity in the leadership of government agencies and corporate organizations in the Nigerian energy industry, arguing vehemently that Nigerian women have demonstrated adequate capacity, professionalism and astuteness in discharging paltry leadership roles assigned to them. The performance of the few women in the leadership energy, WIEN argues, demonstrates that gender imbalance in the industry is a product of primordial bias and not of fairness.

The group which is headed by Mrs Eyono Fatai-Williams is contending with arguments that there are very few women with technical skills to fit into leadership roles in the energy industry. And WIEN has since taken up the challenge of grooming and mentoring younger women in STEM education to build a pipeline of technical skills that would sustain the position of women in the energy industry.

Executive Secretary of WIEN, Engr Asanimo Omezi, declared at awareness and mentorship programme hosted for young female students at the conference room of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, that the event was designed to capture the theme of the 2025 International Women’s Day.

With the programme, she said, WIEN was “Accelerating Actions” in feeding the pipeline of female professionals that would fill critical skill gaps in the energy industry while addressing acute gender balance in the sector.

Executive Secretary of WIEN, Engr Asanimo Omezi, delivers opening remarks at the event

 

Whereas the IWD for 2025 falls within the weekend, Engr Omezi declared that WIEN has adopted the entire month of March drive the theme of “Accelerating Actions.”

The Oracle Today reports that the event featured a lineup of celebrated STEM-inclined professionals in the energy and aviation industry who challenged the school girls drawn from different secondary schools in four zones of Lagos State to rise up and pursue their dreams in the industry. They dispelled the stereotype that girls are wired for soft careers like catering and nursing.

Keynote speaker and pivot of the event, Engr Nnoli Apedeye, challenged the girls to make themselves available for development, noting them STEM students have kept dropping until the numbers have become critically low.

Keynote Speaker and event pilot, Engr Nnoli Apedeye, addresses the audience

Engr Apedeye told the girls to kill the maths phobia early in life, telling them that STEM teaches critical thinking skills that transform the individual into a star.

She appealed to the mentors to make out time to attend to the needs of their assigned mentees, pointing out that issues around young women are becoming increasingly complex and complicated.

In her early remarks at the event, ICAO certified air traffic control trainer, Engr Dr Felicia Agumbata, an engineer, noted that the programme was part of “Accelerating Actions” to enable the young women overcome cultural backgrounds and break barriers towards becoming leaders in technical professions.

Dr Agubata who is an eminent member of Association of Professional Women Engineer of Nigeria (APWEN) an the Vice President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) tasked the mentees to focus on their dreams and aspire for hard work.

Also speaking to the girls, Mrs Lilian Uzodiagu of the National Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) advised the mentees to be intentional in their desire to venture into STEM, urging them to bond into study groups for the common purpose to succeed.

In her remarks, Engr Remi Amao also advised the girls to build resilience early in life by being prompt, prepared and punctual for tasked they consider difficult in STEM studies. She also made it clear that non-numerical professionals can still find space in the energy industry if they would be curious and resilient enough to confront tasks in the industry.

Lineup of some of the speakers at the event

Acting Managing Director and Gas Asset Manager at Neconde Energy, Engr Chichhi Emenike, advised the girls to strive to become better versions of themselves, warning that STEM is not a walk in the park. She tasked them to be deliberate on what contents they search out for on the internet.

In encouraging the girls to brave up to achieving their dreams, Engr Emenike made it clear that luck and grace act on preparations.

Packs of instructional materials distributed at the event

Other speakers at the event encouraged the mentees to be bold, focused, silent, relevant and ambitious. They charged the girls to prepare to become change agents and leaders in their generation; assuring the girls that women are created to be leaders and solution providers in many different ways.

The event featured robust interaction between the students, their school officials and top members of WIEN. The students were also taken on tour of some select facilties at the airport.