Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD)
Kano, Nigeria, 2016, April 28
On the 28th of April 2016, CITAD organised and awareness programme for the International Girls in ICT day. The event saw in attendance dignitaries from different works of life. Present where Hajiya Aisha Debola Aminu (country director new faces new voices), Hajiya zainab Abdulkadir Yakasai (coordinator consultancy, school of Technology, Kano State Polytechnic), Fatima A. Ibrahim of CITAD, and Asiya H. Abubakar (Isa Wali Empowerment Initiative).
The event started at 11:00am with opening prayer by Asmau Abubakar, and a welcome speech after that by Asmau Abubakar. Next was the brief about Centre for Information Technology and development (CITAD) and about International Girls in ICT day given by Hauwa Dauda Atta of CITAD, where she highlighted the role, vision and mission of CITAD and how it helps the gender inclusion in work places and also how it helps women in the society. She stated the importance of the International girls in ICT day celebration as it helps create awareness to the community on the importance if empowering the girl child to go into technology. The next speaker was Aisha Umar of CITAD who gave a presentation on what ICT is, and the importance of ICT to the society. The final speaker of the day was one of the special guests in person of Hajiya Zainab Abdulkadir Yakasai who spoke on opportunities for girls in ICT. Firstly she spoke about her journey as a woman in technology and the challenges she faced then she elaborated on a list of opportunities for girls who want to join the technological sphere. Hajiya Fatima A. Ibrahim who had to leave a little early apologised and gave her vote of thanks before leaving where she emphasised on the need for girls to boldly go into ICT. She talked on how the world is going global and we the women folk should not be left behind.
Next was an interactive session with Harira Wakili leading the session where participants present asked some questions relating to the presentations made and they fed their curiosity. During this session, Hajiya Aisha Debola Aminu said she was impressed with the initiative of International Girls in ICT day, but at the same time not happy with the number of girls present at the event which she expected to be more. She promised to make her contributions when next the day holds. She also emphasised the importance of ICT and urged the girls to make sure they participate actively.
The final part of the day was an experience sharing session where Malama Jamila with a diploma in Public Admin is a practicing videographer and photographer. She told us about how she fortunately found herself in the profession when she was picked to train as a photographer. After her training she did not stop there, she furthered her education in videography and made sure she practiced.
The event ended with closing remarks by Hauwa Dauda Atta and closing prayers by a volunteer.
