5th April, 2016
Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has concluded plans to renovate dilapidated schools in nine states within the coverage of the agency as a way of uplifting the educational standard of the area.
Mrs Ibim Semenitari, Acting Managing of NDDC, made this declaration on the sidelines of unveiling its pet project and the Grand finale of Girls In Engineering, Mathematics and Science (GEMS) for female Students of the nine states of the region.
She said “GEMS stands for Girls in Engineering, Mathematics and Science, a programme borne out of our desire, as well as our social commitment and responsibility, to bridge the gaps that exist in gender related issues we encounter in our earnest effort to facilitate the sustainable development of the Niger Delta region.”
She said the push to GEMS is to promote innovative, research and standards-based practices, which will encourage students with interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics to thrive in the 21st century global economy.
She said the programme hopes to leverage on its extensive network of expertise, partnerships, resources and experience by providing Niger Delta girls who have shown remarkable brilliance in these areas the needed platform to excel and grow as scientists.
According to her, “it is no longer a secret that fewer girls go into the sciences in the Niger Delta region. If most jobs in the future would go to science-based job seekers, then our youths are going to lose out, particularly our girls. The business in the Niger Delta is predominantly in science and technology and at present, the region depends on expatriates to do a great percentage of jobs that our people ought to be doing. Besides the constant repatriation of resources, the people are poorly engaged in this sector.”
Citing the United Nations’ Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and the follow-up summit on sustainable development in Johannesburg in 2002, she said for sustainable development to occur, societies must be encouraged to develop the sustainable livelihoods of their people.
Semenitari said for the people of the Niger Delta, it is important to note two very important facts: one, oil and gas provide a third, more robust livelihood for the people; and two, farming and fishing need science and technology to realise its great potential.
She said GEMS programme, while helping to bridge the gender gaps in education and related fields, is designed to change the destiny of the Niger Delta, from an economy that is too dependent on rustic, traditional methods to one that embraces the wide and impressive range and possibilities of science and technology the world is currently embracing, from South Africa to Europe, from Asia to the American continents.
“As a region and as a people, the people must determine not to be left behind in this noble pursuit,” she said.
Quoting the National Bureau of Statistics, she said the Nigerian population, as at 2013, showed a gender parity of 86,121,532.3 females and 87,754,876.7 males. But, sadly, that is the only area where gender parity exists. For instance, the percentage of enrolment showed a regression in male – female ratio, from primary, secondary to tertiary education in Nigeria.
The same disparity shows up in the percentage distribution of gender in governance and public service. According to the report, although women make up about half of the electorate, “they continue to be underrepresented at the national, state and local government levels.” .
The NDDC boss stated that “GEMS stems from the principle and strategic policy thrust of the Federal Government, under President Muhammadu Buhari, which we must tap into, to achieve the change that we desire, for the good of our people. That is the right thing to do.
“GEMS presents a healthy competition that helps our girls interpret science in such a way that we can use science, in a glamorous way, to do every day things, and resolve every day challenges. The 30 finalists, all from SSS1 and SSS2, are beginning to see the practicality of science, even at that young age, and it becomes a foundation upon which they and other children of the Niger Delta, as well as the schools in the region, will build our collective future.”