The Minister of Water Resources, Mr Suleiman Adamu, has pledged the determination of the Federal Government to provide necessary incentives to make the girl-child in Nigeria to study engineering.

Adamu gave the pledge in Abuja on Friday while speaking at the investiture of Mrs Charity Ojobo, the new chairman of the Abuja Chapter of the Association of Professional Women Engineers in Nigeria (APWEN) and also to mark the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

He said that government would support APWEN to achieve its collective goals, stressing the role of women in the development of any society, especially in the developing world.

The minister told the association to keep the flag flying in pursuit of its drive to achieve the collective mandate of encouraging more girls to take up careers in the engineering profession.

Speaking earlier, Ojobo said that “if the girl-child is brought up to show deep interest in engineering such a measure would foster nation building. Engineering is a career that one can comfortably stay in the house and make your pay and it is a career that is central to the wellbeing of our citizens.”

According to her, the new leadership of the Abuja Chapter of APWEN has decided to forge ahead and ensure that the nation has more female engineers than before.

“We have programmes for women in the FCT and its villages and we are collaborating with the ministry of water resources to achieve set objectives, including attracting the girl-child to engineering,’ she said.

She said that the chapter had embarked on different programmes to attract more girl child to engineering profession, part of which she said was a competition organized among secondary schools in Abuja.

She said that 28 private and public schools participated in the competition, out of which four comprised two public and two private, emerged the best.

According to her, Government Day Secondary School, Dutsen Alhaji and Government Girls Secondary Schools Kuje clinched first and second positions, respectfully in the public schools category.

Also, Glisten International Academy came first, while The Great Height Academy emerged second position in the private schools.

Also speaking, a former lawmaker, Sen. Ayogu Eze, told the Nigerian Society of Engineers to carry out more oversight visits to engineering sites, to reduce cases of building collapses and other professional lapses in engineering.

He said that the report of the Lagos 21-storey building collapse which was submitted to the Council of Registered Engineers in Nigeria this week, indicted the engineers that handled the project.

Eze said that more oversight visits would have averted the collapse of the building and similar incidents nationwide.

The Guest Speaker, Dr Boluwaji Onabolu, speaking on “Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: Water Unites Us,” stressed the importance of water and hygiene, describing water and sanitation as human rights.

She said that a lack of access to water was contributing to the insecurity in the country, describing water availability as essential to peaceful co-existence in any nation.

Onabolu called on engineering stakeholders and the government to ensure adequate provision and access to water by all citizens

(NAN)

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