By Chris Mark
The Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria, APWEN, Bayelsa Chapter, has called on parents, government and the private sector to invest in STEM education, insisting that technology and innovation are no longer limited to men.
The appeal was made on Thursday, July 30, 2026, during the Chapter’s 2nd Engr. Prof. Ongoebi M. O. Etebu Public Lecture, Exhibition and Award Ceremony held in Yenagoa.
The event featured a public lecture on cyber security and was aimed at encouraging professionalism among young engineers, with special focus on female students in secondary schools.
In her address, the Chapter Chairperson, Dr. Mrs. Amalate Obuebite, described the program as a “town and gown” engagement that brought together industry, government, academia and the private sector.
“We were opportune to host a national program where we have the president live here in Bayelsa… it’s an intersection and here is the meeting point in Bayelsa” she said.
She said one of APWEN’s core mandates is to encourage girls to take up engineering.
“We want to believe that engineering is domiciled in the male gender but now you understand that technology and innovation is not gender based, whether you are a woman or a man you can as well do and excel,” she stated.
“STEM is the order of the day. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. We don’t want to be left behind in Bayelsa or in Nigeria.”
Giving an account of her 20 months in office, Dr. Obuebite said APWEN Bayelsa visited 26 schools across all LGAs including Brass, Nembe, Ogbia, Sagbama, Ekeremor, and Kolokuma/Opokuma.
“One thing has been a recurring decimal our students need that push. They embrace STEM when we speak to them, but once the teacher leaves, how do they understand these abstract science subjects?” she asked.
To bridge the gap, she launched A Handbook on Chemistry written in simple language for secondary school students.
“This book is able to relate chemistry to them in very simple terms… what is life without chemistry?_” she said.
She also called on sponsors, patrons, fathers and mothers to “_key in, encourage us, support us and help Nigerian technology and engineering to thrive.”
Also speaking, a former Commissioner for Education and APC candidate for Nembe/Brass Federal Constituency, who is husband to the Chapter Chairperson, Hon. Jonathan Obuebite, urged parents to encourage the girl child in STEM.
He commended Governor Douye Diri for supporting the program and thanked the First Lady for backing APWEN’s activities.
“When you give a woman an assignment you can go and sleep meaningfully well that she will dedicate her time and everything to ensure that assignment is delivered,” he said.
He described Prof. Etebu as “the first female Vice Chancellor from Ijaw extraction all over the world” and “the first professor of Chemical Engineering,” calling her “a book to be studied.”
He announced that he has purchased copies of the new chemistry handbook for distribution to all secondary schools in Nembe/Brass Federal Constituency.
The celebrant, Engr. Prof. Ongoebi M. O. Etebu, expressed gratitude to God for her academic journey. She disclosed that she holds three Bachelor’s degrees in Mechanical, Industrial, and Energy and Power Engineering, and four Master’s degrees including Chemical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and an MBA in Management, earned in Nigeria and the United States.
Prof. Etebu urged government to continue sponsoring indigent but capable students, recalling how a scholarship enabled her to study at a State University in the US.
“It will be my great wish that government will continue to sponsor students who have the capability but might not have the means to enable students go abroad or even here in Nigeria to go to school,” she added.
The event featured an exhibition and award presentations to honor women in engineering.
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