WIDEN Project calls for policy action on women's digital inclusion

Stakeholders at the 3rd Workshop of the Women in Digital Empowerment Network (WIDEN) AI for Sustainable Development Project have called on the Federal Government to integrate women’s digital literacy into the national education policy.

The call followed the release of survey findings that revealed a significant gap between Nigerian women’s interest in technology and their ability to access and participate in the digital economy.

The workshop, held at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) headquarters in Jabi, Abuja, was backed by a nationwide survey of nearly 1,000 women conducted under a British Council-funded collaboration between NOUN, Nasarawa State University Keffi (NSUK), and Brunel University, London.

Declaring the workshop open on behalf of the NOUN Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Uduma Oji Uduma, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Technology Innovation and Research, Prof. Christine Ofulue, described the project as one that advances a shared commitment to inclusion, empowerment, and sustainable development.

Ofulue commended the British Council for its investment in Nigeria's human capital under the Going Global framework and called on the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Federal Ministry of Education to treat WIDEN as a workable template for inclusive, AI-driven empowerment rather than just another research report.

"Empowering women digitally is both a social imperative and an economic necessity," she said.

Principal Investigator for Nigeria and Director, Directorate of Advancement and Linkages, NOUN, Prof. Ganiyat A. Adesina-Uthman, said the survey revealed strong appetite for technology among Nigerian women, with nearly 60 percent of respondents under the age of 24 and over 71 percent expressing interest in tech careers.

However, she noted that over 50 percent identified as beginners, only 8.7 percent had reached advanced level, and 13.7 percent were living with physical or sensory impairments — underlining the need for more inclusive programme design.

Adesina-Uthman urged the NUC and the Federal Ministry of Education to integrate the WIDEN model into university and polytechnic curricula nationwide and replicate it across all six geopolitical zones.

Presenting the survey data, Principal Investigator for the United Kingdom, Dr. David Botchie, gave a breakdown of the findings, indicating that 99.6 percent of respondents were based in Nigeria, with 91.3 percent being female.

While 70.7 percent were drawn from urban areas, Dr. Botchie noted that the data pointed to a clear need to extend the programme’s reach to rural communities, where women face compounded barriers to digital access and participation.

Representing the Vice-Chancellor, Nasarawa State University, Keffi  (NSUK), Prof. Sa'adatu Hassan Liman, Prof. Ngozi Nwosu stressed the importance of equipping women with digital competencies in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

She advocated for expanded scholarships and grants targeting women in coding, robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence, and called for the establishment of younger-girls' arms of the network across various levels of education.

Also speaking, a representative of the Director, University Education, Federal Ministry of Education, Amina Yazid Ibrahim, highlighted the broader economic case for women's digital inclusion, noting that access to digital tools strengthens household incomes and national productivity.

Highlight of the event was the presentation of Nura-X, a female robot, developed in Keffi by Co-Investigator, Prof. Rashidah Funke Olanrewaju, showcasing the innovative digital tools and solutions developed through the project and has been recently inducted into the Nigeria Computer Society.

In a vote of thanks, participant representative Morayo Nesochi Oladotun-Abdul, an MBBS student at Nile University of Nigeria, said WIDEN had grown into more than a programme.

"With the right support, women can lead, innovate, and excel in the technology space," she said.