Praise said it was a privilege to see how engineers work, adding that she was aspiring to become an aeronautics engineer, to maintain aircraft.

Vera Wisdom-Bassey

Praise Eguonu, 12, a JSS3 student of Murtala Mohammed International School, Ikeja, was one of the participants at the just- concluded Mayen Adetiba Technical Boot Camp for girls. The event was organised by the Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN).

Praise said it was a privilege to see how engineers work, adding that she was aspiring to become an aeronautics engineer, to maintain aircraft.

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She said that anytime she heard of any aviation programme, she was usually eager to attend, and she wished to become an aeronautics expert someday.

Praise recalled that she got excited when her school was invited to the programme as she believed that it would inspire her to work hard and make the country better. She refuted the impression that women’s place was in the kitchen, a belief she said had dissuaded some women from pursuing various careers. She said she was elated that girls were being counselled now to choose various careers.

The three-day programme saw students from different secondary schools within Ikeja participating in the how-to-catch-them-young through the Science Technology, Engineering Mathematics (STEM) initiative. The schools were Murtala Muhammed International School, Ikeja, Iju Senior Grammar School, Solid Girls Automete Academy, and Mind Builders School, among others.

The boot camp was purposefully meant to tutor the participants on how they could address their minds towards choosing a career in engineering.

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The maiden edition of Mayen Adetiba Technical Boot Camp for Girls, whose theme was “Waste to Technology,” held at Rotary Club, Ladoke Akintola, Ikeja GRA.

The event was witnessed by Chief (Mrs.) Nike Akande, former president, Lagos State Chamber of Commerce, as a special guest of honour. Also in attendance was Mayen Adetiba, past president, Association of Consulting Engineers of Nigeria, and Mrs Felicia Nnenna Agubata, president (APWEN) among other dignitaries.

Chief Nike Akande, in her speech, advocated the training of the girl child, and as well as giving equal opportunities to her like her male counterpart.

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“We are four girls in the family, no male. But my father gave us equal opportunities; he never married another woman and today we are all doing well in our field of endeavours,” she said.

Akande, who is calling for more girls to embrace STEM more than ever before, appreciated the laudable position of women in engineering.

She, therefore, called on the girl-child to focus more on studying mathematics, which she said would help her to study engineering. She expressed happiness that, today, the case was becoming different, as more and more women were making waves in the engineering profession.

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Akande said she believed in the ‘catch them- young’ phenomenon: “The young shall grow. These ones you see here today are prospective engineers.”

She lauded Adetiba as a great achiever with great humility, hard work and confidence, a woman that she described as doing well in her field of endeavour as well as contributing to national development.

The three-day boot camp for girls was intended to teach the pupils some skills that they could harness to make a career in STEM.

Agubata disclosed that the programme was meant for students in JSS3. She said it was to enable them to pick a career in engineering quite early and be given the scholarship to realise their ambition.

On her part, Adebita restated that

STEM was being projected as a model for young girls to take a career in engineering.

“First, they have to be thinking of pursuing a career in science and engineering. By the time they are in the senior secondary, they will no longer think of picking a career that is not beneficial to them in life. So, it is important to catch them young now.”