women-scientists-from-nigeria

"Q: What was running through your mind the moment you landed in South Africa? A: Am I really here? It was a really daunting journey getting to South Africa. At a point, I actually gave up. I mean, I gave up several times. I had parents who were loving and very worried about me in the process, it was really tiring. But then, I got there and I was like, am I really here? I don’t think it dawned on me, until I got to the University of Johannesburg."

"It is the desire of this research group to fast track development through human and infrastructural capacity building, consequently reducing the gap between the developed and the emerging economies."

"Let me take a few minutes to stress why we are here in offering this heartfelt goodwill message. Ndi banyi, taa bug boo. We have come a long way since the days of the Missionaries. Nsukka boasted of many scholars and philanthropists that emerged during that era. Fast forward; we have fought a civil war, rebuilt Nigeria and the University of Nigeria remains in our back-yard. When we take stock, we cannot say we didn’t do okay. But in the grand scheme of things, more could be done."

"Q: Do you think there’s a future here for media law in Nigeria or generally, Africa? A: Yes, I think there is because we have a large number of Nigerians becoming more internet savvy. We have a lot of popular bloggers and vloggers and these are the sort of things media law covers. We also need more legislations, more decisions, more awareness on how exactly things are done and how to be in tandem with international standards. Also, just make sure that Africa is at par with the other continents. So, yeah, I think there is a future for media law in Nigeria."

"Let us look within ourselves and utilize especially the potentials within our youth. They graduate in hundreds every year. We must figure out a way to become reliant on them. My hope and wish is that we find ways to develop incubator-centers where young graduates from all schools can spend time and serve our people."

"It gives me great pleasure to be here today with my most esteemed brethren from far and near. I have not seen many of you for some time now. So, this event, being the first, calls for many more. It is my fervent belief that we can live up to that pledge."

"Q: What is one thing about you that changed during the process of Price Media Law Moot? A: My knowledge about internet intermediaries. Before I started Price Media Law Moot, I didn’t even know that internet companies had liability. And then, I really focused on Scoops. So, I got to read a lot of materials and develop more interest in internet intermediary liabilities and one thing that happened to me while I was in South Africa is I realised that no matter where you go to or no matter how far you stray away from being yourself, you never stop being yourself. The moment you start preparing and you decide, I’m going to be myself, you are going to excel because that is who you are, you can’t be anyone else. My experience made me realise that I had been living in fear saying oh, I can’t do this thing, it’s been forever since I was out to speak publicly and I stood up and I had white judges and there were Indians and it was like, my bones were filled with cement. And I just felt this like this is who I am, this is what I have been doing since I was born, this is who I am and I am always going to be excellent at it. It gave me peace, to know that I was still myself."

"In my mind, I need to represent and not necessarily be loud as in yelling, but loud in my excitement, loud in my demeanor."

"Q: Why Price Media Law Moot? A: I tried to get into the Mooting Society twice. And I remembered the first time I tried. My friend, Daniel Jaiyeoba told me to try out for any and every moot competition that came up but the only thing that really resonated with me was Price Media Law Moot so I tried out ‘cause I love media, and growing up, one of my dreams was to be a reporter but I got into law so it seemed like a great way to start bridging the gap of the career as a lawyer and my dreams of being in the media industry."

"Although we are making little progress with the little or no facilities at our disposal, we strongly believe that given the right tools we will certainly perform better."

"It’s incredible to see companies like Arup, Westpac, Telstra, and Worley already embracing this platform to recruit diverse talents."

"Through my work with WISE and WISA, I gained a deeper understanding of the barriers women in STEM face."

"Conversations about gender equity often exclude the intersections of gender like race, ethnicity, and disability."

"We’ve launched the DEIR platform, a game-changer in eliminating recruitment bias using specific elements."

"I also realised that the conversations about gender equity often exclude the intersections of gender like race, ethnicity, and disability."

"The discussion around diversity and inclusion has increased in recent times yet the dial has barely shifted for women in STEM."

"It’s currently free for both women and employers, using our trial packages."

"To empower and support female STEM students and encourage girls to pursue STEM careers."

"As a woman from a minority background working in STEM, I have faced personal and professional challenges, whilst in pursuit of my career aspirations."

"I thought that was a fundamental problem.”"

"Changing with the initiatives we have launched at iSTEM Co., as well as other initiatives like STEM sisters, DCA CARM program."

"My leadership journey in advocating for the diversity of women in the industry began during my PhD, when I realised the difficulties of being a woman in a male dominated field."

"I began engagements with Women in STEMM Australia (WISA), in 2018."

"The underrepresentation of female engineering students led me to co-found the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Club at Victoria University."

"I was appointed to the board as a director in 2019 which I still serve to date."

"WISA has created a diverse, inclusive network of STEMM professionals at all levels of academia, industry, education, business and government and includes all women in STEMM regardless of their discipline and profession."

"I partnered with Dr Ruwangi Fernando to co-found iSTEM Co, which aims to promote employment and retention for women in STEM, including women of colour and women from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds."

"That showed only 29 percent of the STEM workforce identifies as women and 56 percent of university educated women in STEM were born overseas."

"This shows how critical the sector is for our economic growth and global competition."

"I am absolutely thrilled to share some exciting updates on my journey since receiving the award."

"As a scientist, engineer and passionate advocate for women in the field, I have advocated and worked across various STEM/NFP organisations to create change."

"Considering the current STEM skills shortage."

"I’m one of those people that if there’s a problem, I try to fix it."

"That’s really what worried me, and that led me to start looking into alternative forms of energy."

"If I can’t fix it, I don’t talk about it."

"What was more interesting was that 56 per cent of university qualified females in STEM in Australia are Australian women born overseas."

"We are a very strong economy in the Asia region, so we can quickly become the alternative energy giant if we embrace this."

"When I saw those statistics, I thought that it would have been a state of emergency."

"When it comes to leadership, the best advice I’ve embraced is to be visible and use your privilege to advocate for positive change."

"The awareness we are generating in the STEM community, but we still have a long way to go."

"In 2023, my main concerns revolve around the lack of retention of women with STEM skills in the industry and insufficient funding for startups."

"There are no real failures only opportunities to learn, grow and improve."

"I’ve seen first hand the adverse effects of oil spillage."

"In Australia, it’s been identified that there are more than 200,000 vacant STEM jobs, which has continued to grow by more than 2.5 percent annually since 2019 and the demand for STEM workers will increase to 1.9 million by 2024."

"They experienced over four times higher unemployment."

"Only 10 women across Nigeria got elected into the House of Representatives with 360 members, while only six women got into the Senate with 109 members."

"This has resulted in an unequal power relationship between women and men, social norms decrease, education and paid employment opportunities for women."

"Despite the odds, women should persist and continue to prove that when they lead."

"Our objective is to look into issues related to communicable diseases, maternal and child health and even non communicable disease and access to quality healthcare."

"The only way women’s contribution to national development can be appreciated is by electing a woman as president."