Co-Creation Hub Nigeria, a technology based institution which empowers talented youth in learning and exploration, organised the very first female science-technology meetup in collaboration with the US Embassy. The event tagged Sci-tech Meet up had entrepreneurs, Interns, students and other technology enthusiasts come on board. The event was held at the Co-creation office, Yaba, Lagos state.
The event kicked off with introductions by participants and a little working the room networking event with the aim of getting to know somebody in the room and the ability to say a few things about them 5 minutes after.
Temie Giwa-Tunbosun, CEO, Lifebank, Nigeria gave the Keynote talk on ‘From Health to Tech Bridging the Divide’. Mrs Tunbosun narrated how she had come a long way from a child with the fierce passion of wanting to be the President of Nigeria, which shaped what she studied in school for her Undergrad and Masters, but ended up as a Health Ambassador.
She also pointed out how well technology has helped in bridging the gap of recording and data documentation, she advised women to be organised. In her words “I am a super-hyper organised woman”. She encouraged the women at the hub to learn how to be well organised so that they can balance every sector of their lives. Also, she told the aspiring entrepreneurs to start something and not mind the challenges, stating, ‘it’s good to be ignorant of the challenges because it allows you to start.’
Her session was followed by the Panel Discussion with Damilola Solesi of Smids animation, Abisoye Ajayi of Pearls Africa and Damilola Teidi of Gomyway.com. The session tagged, “Journey so far –Tricks & Challenges.”
These women talked about the bias system in the sector and how well they had been able to overcome that challenge. Damilola Solesi said, she had encountered this especially when she was younger and unmarried, being in a country that doesn’t promote the eagerness of the youth to doing something new. She however expressed optimism as she is beginning to notice that such trends are changing especially when people begin to see the benefit of your idea.
It might be interesting to note the comment of one of the participants, “I actually have men asking me to join their team for a meeting just because they think that my being female will give them the deal” said Abisoye Ajayi while Damilola Teidi said, she hasn’t encountered such bias in her working career, noting that she had worked as a programmer for a while and she has worked with a lot of males.
Towards the end of the meeting, both participants and speakers encouraged that a space be created for women in the sector where they can learn and expand their knowledge. Emphasis was also placed on need to encourage more women into the sector.
Above whispers got to catch up with some participants who expressed their delight about the programme. One of such is Tobi Balogun, a digital marketer who further expressed the need to encourage women in the technology sector. Melody, a student of the University of Lagos, said she was happy to be at the meeting with other women in the sector because it also serves as a mentoring forum.
The event is scheduled to hold quarterly and will serve as an avenue where women in technology can network.