MainOne emerges Platinum Sponsor, Opeke Chairs at eBusiness Life’s ICT Girls Day

Arrangements are in top gear for the first ICT Girls Day to be hosted in Nigeria and chaired by Chief Executive Officer of MainOne Cable Company Limited, Ms Funke Opeke,.

Aside from chairing the event, MainOne Cable Company has also offered to be the platinum sponsor of the event, which has the objective of sensitizing young girls on the opportunities and relevance of getting into ICT as a profession.

The event, which will hold at the Golden Gate Restaurant, Ikoyi on April 26, is part of an initiative of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and is being hosted in Nigeria by eBusiness Life Communication, publishers of eBusiness Life Magazine.

In a mail to eBusiness Life, Ms Opeke acknowledged the importance of having women in the profession, noting that the quest is what MainOne would like to partner eBusiness Life on.

“We will be delighted to support and I will be glad to chair,” she had stated in her mail to eBusiness Life.

The one-day workshop, which is going to be a part of a long-running campaign, is meant to sensitize young girls and all stakeholders involved in moulding their careers path, on the need to take up ICT as a profession.

Ms. Opeke further called on other companies that have the growth of Nigeria’s ICT industry in mind to join in ensuring that the event is a huge success.

As the chairperson, Ms. Opeke will steer the direction of the event and coordinate the panel of discussants and student competition. She will also address participating students in her capacity as an entrepreneur and professional ICT woman.

Expressing her optimism to the success of the event, , Chief Executive Officer of eBusiness Life , Mrs. Ufuoma Emuophedaro,  noted that corporate organisations are interested in the campaign because they know it is the right thing to do. According to her, “This is the right thing to do. If other countries have observed the need to grow this industry through encouraging young girls, then, we should not be left behind. We must make sure that our young girls are given the chance to prove themselves in this all-important field.”

She stated that the ICT Girls’ Day workshop and subsequent campaign will further open up opportunities for girls in ICT sector.

International Girls’ Day is an initiative launched through ITU Resolution 70 with the idea of creating a global environment that will empower and encourage girls and young women to consider careers in the field of information and communication technologies. The Union declared the 4th (fourth) Thursday of April every year as a day of encouragement to girls and young women to consider careers in ICT and society is reminded to support them in their choice.

Pilot projects and campaigns have been launched in a number of countries for about 20 years, with the aim to change girls' and young women's behaviour patterns with regard to their choice of career and to expand their spectrum of career options.

As part of the 2012 event, there will be quiz/debate competition between female students from select secondary schools, roundtable discussion, interactive and motivational talk from renowned women ICT professionals, among others.

Ms. Funke Opeke is Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Main One Cable Company, operators of a submarine cable system linking countries in West and Central Africa with each other and connecting in Europe with other existing cable systems linking the Americas and Asia.

Ms. Opeke has worked in the US telecommunications industry for over 20 years before working with MTN Nigeria as Chief Technical Officer. She subsequently advised Transcorp on the privatization of NITEL, and served briefly as Chief Operating Officer of NITEL. Prior to her return to Nigeria, Ms. Opeke was Executive Director, Performance Assurance with the Wholesale Division of Verizon Communications, New York.

Ms. Opeke obtained her Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Electrical Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife in 1981 and a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University, New York in May 1984. Ms. Opeke is a member of the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, USA and the Nigerian Society of Engineers. She is a dual citizen of the United States and Nigeria.