APWEN Successfully Hosted Town and Gown in Lagos
By Ijeoma Kanife
The Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN) recently hosted its town and gown mentoring/career fair with the theme: “Industry-focused Capacity Building” for young female engineers in order to bridge the gap between the learning environment and the industry.
The Program which took place at the Digital Bridge Institute, Oshodi Lagos Nigeria, sponsored by Worley Foundation, Australia, featured young female engineering students from different high institutions across the country, as well as seasoned speakers who were invited to speak on the theme of the event.
The essence of the program basically is to mentor these young female engineering students on how best to equip themselves in the society in order for them to function effectively.
In her remarks, the President of APWEN, Engr. Dr. Elizabeth J. Eterigho, FNSE said that this being the 2nd edition of the program given its impact in the first edition held in February. She further said that many young female engineering graduates who followed through with the mentoring program have been employed into various industries in the society and as a result of this, the decision to hold another edition was implemented hence this program.
She thanked the Worley Foundation for sponsoring and partnering with APWEN to make the program a reality as well as the Patron of APWEN, Mr. Azibaola Robert, Esq. FNSE and other guests for gracing the occasion.
The Chairman of the program, President of Nigerian Society of Engineers, Engr. Tasiu Gidari Wudil, FNSE commended the efforts of the APWEN members for their resilience and hard work and assured them of continuous support from the society. He equallyurged the young ladies to listen attentively and take vital information that would be given during the program at all times.
The representative from Chevron, Engr. Oyindasola Onigbogi spoke about the essentials needed to power your gown in the Oil and Gas Industry which are, Knowledge of what the town andgown entails: Hard work, Positive Attitude, Emotional Intelligence, Empathy, Networking, Diversity Inclusion and Equity.
She said, “to all the ladies in the room, please continue to do all the things I mentioned, like I said earlier, you have it already in you so keep developing it further”.
Mr. Tunde Elesin, DMD of Delta Afrik challenged the young female engineers to go all out and succeed. He said that innovations are possible because there are tons of raw materials available in the country.
He said, “We have extremely talented ladies here, we have an opportunity to make progress in the country”.
Mr. Sunday Olota closed the program with a speech on De-carbonization and eradicating the emission of black soot. He said as a result of this, there have been 800,000 increase in death yearly so this is an opportunity for human professionals, young female engineers to be part of contributing to the future of the climate ambition and also participate in the course that is growing to make an impact in the world now and in the future hence APWEN continues to remain very key to our world.
In his words, “I have been opportune to work with women in the course of my work in the industry and I tell you from my experience that I have worked with successful professionals but women are the most successful”.