The President of Women in Aviation (WIA), Nigeria Chapter, Rejoice Ndudinachi, has pledged to continue to support the girl child education and encourage them to take up career in the aviation industry to enable them contribute their own quota to the growth and development of the industry.
She made the promise during the recent 2015 annual conference of the body in Lagos, adding that women in the association were in tune with trends in the aviation industry and are committed to sustaining contributions to the sector’s development.
Ndudinachi said that as an association it reaches out to schools to sensitise students about career opportunities in aviation, thereby empowering them for better career choices.
According to her ”We believe in catch them young and we have contributed immensely to the advancement of our very dynamic industry and the society in general. We have organised series of programmes to help the young ones, one of the latest in this effort was the Nigerian Girls in Aviation Day, held recently by the association.
She added that WIA also gave special gifts to outstanding children, adding that the body believes this would inspire them to pursue careers in the aviation industry
The WIA president stated that one of the objectives of Women in Aviation Nigeria is to encourage the young ones to build up their future in aviation, promising that the body would pursue this objective very vigorously.
Also, the Wife of the Lagos State Governor, Mrs Bolanle Ambode, who was the special guest of honour, called on WIA to continue to do more for women in aviation and other potential female aviation professionals to match with the theme of the conference; Women: Connect, Engage and Inspire the Next Generation.
She noted that aviation industry is strategic and that its various departments are sophisticated, highly technical and scientific, noting that aviation employment is different from any other job because of the specialised skills and expertise required of the personnel to function effectively and efficiently.
Mrs Ambode, who was represented by Mrs Oyidamola Ogunsanwo, listed such highly specialised areas to include piloting, aircraft maintenance, aero-medicals, Air Traffic Controller (ATC) and several others.
According to her, “What this means to me is that Nigeria women have registered their impact and established their relevance in the complex field of aeronautic as they have done in the other challenging areas of human endeavour .So, who say the women are not flying?
Ogunsanwo stated that women are matching on and on the right part, adding that women should encourage themselves and also strive harder to achieve more.
“Though your association has been doing an exceedingly good job of promoting public awareness of the accomplishments of women in this unique industry, you must do more in consonance with the theme of the conference; Women: Connect, Engage and inspire the Next Generation.” She said
She stated that WIA owes it a duty to inspire the next generation of teeming ladies, young ambitious girls, many of them hungry and thirsty for knowledge.
At the end of the conference, female mechanics, airport managers, engineers, airline managers among others were given awards for their immerse contribution as females to the development and growth of the aviation industry, awards were also given to pupils and students for participating in the Girls in Aviation Day debates.
