Invest in digital innovations, group urges FG, states

A Port Harcourt-based rights campaign organisation, Media Awareness and Justice Initiative, has called on the federal and sub-national governments to prioritise investment in digital technological innovations.

The group also urged the governments to create and implement policies that support women’s development, with a view to bridging the inequality/gap between males and females in science and technology for sustainable development.

This was contained in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Tuesday by the organisation in commemoration of the 2025 International Day for Women and Girls in Science with the theme “Building a Future for Women.”

The statement signed by the Executive Director of MAJI, Onyekachi Okoro, noted that although globally, women are recognised to have pivotal roles to play in the development of societies through science, technology, engineering and mathematics, they are continuously excluded from participating fully in the economy, policy formulation, digital evolution, governance and development.

It said, “In Nigeria, MAJI believes the digital divide is primarily characterised by differences in internet access, digital literacy, and technological infrastructure between urban and rural areas, as well as between socio-economic groups and gender competitiveness.”

Okoro said there was an urgent need to bridge the gaps and lamented that the digital gender gap has continued to expand in many developing countries, creating a specific need to support digital gender equality.

Backing his claims with statistics, the statement noted that globally, in 2022, 62% of men are using the Internet, compared with 57% of women.

“Only 19% of women in the least Developed Countries (LDCs) used the Internet in 2020, compared to 86 per cent in developed world (in 2019),” it added

MAJI noted that in the course of its interventions in communities through Community Network project, which seeks to provide Cheap and sustainable internet access in rural and urban communities and also help to build the digital literacy capacity of women and girls in the region, it has identified the need for sustained digital literacy trainings for women and girls

He explained that such training provides a platform for increased economic opportunities, digital inclusion and participation for this historically marginalised group.

“The time for scientific change and women and girl inclusion is now,” the statement added.