I Am A Nigerian In STEM Encourages Girls in STEM through representative stories of Nigerian role models in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
If you leave out self-lacing Nike sneakers, Back to the Future 2 was mostly right about its 2000s predictions. You can talk with AI personalities, ride in driverless cars, and even go to space if you can afford it. The good folks in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) are to thank for these technological marvels. They’ve worked tirelessly for decades to bring them to life and make them accessible to the general public.
You know what’s still missing, though? The presence of women in STEM. Sure, there are a few of them, but nowhere near enough. There are many reasons for this — stereotypes, gender bias, cultural expectations, etc. Another major one is the lack of stories of female role models in tech, especially in Nigeria. And we all know representation matters.
Thankfully, Foluke Oyeleye’s ‘I Am A Nigerian in STEM’ book shares the success stories of Nigerian women in STEM. This book is sure to inspire girls to explore careers in STEM. We throw around the word “iconic” a lot these days (thanks a lot, Stan Twitter), but the women we’re talking about today are truly iconic in every sense of the word. And they are all featured in ‘I Am A Nigerian in STEM’.
Dora Akunyili: A Champion for Public Health
At a time when the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) was wildly ineffective, leading to a disastrous number of fake drugs making their way into the market, the late great Dora Akunyili came into power as the Director-General and ran that place like the Marines. Under her leadership, NAFDAC went from a national joke to a well-respected, internationally recognized and awarded institution. Dora’s hard work, dedication, and refusal to be intimidated led to her literally saving thousands of lives.
That’s real icon-level stuff right there.
Wendy Okolo: The Aerospace Engineer
You know that thing many Nigerian parents do where, when you’ve failed an exam, they point to an academically gifted kid and say, “Do they have two heads?” Well, Wendy Okolo was the type of kid they were referring to. While the rest of us watched the original Star Wars movies as kids, enjoyed them, and called it a day, she carried the concept of space travel on her head and actually went on to become an aerospace research engineer who works at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
How could you not stan?
Stella Adadevoh: The Ebola Heroine
The late Dr. Stella Adadevoh will always be remembered as the woman who gave her life to stop the 2014 wave of Ebola in Nigeria. When an infected Liberian-American man made his way to the hospital Dr. Adadevoh worked at, she insisted on quarantining him, resisting pressure from the patient and his home country to let him go. That act, in Lagos, a densely populated Nigerian city, stopped the spread and probably saved millions of lives.
She’s quite literally a national hero.
Funke Okpeke: The Tech Visionary
As the founder and CEO of MainOne, a leading telecommunications company, Funke Opeke took the company from being virtually unknown to a leading provider of data centre services and has empowered numerous startups, large enterprises, and government institutions by commissioning West Africa’s first privately owned, open-access undersea cable system, which stretches over 7,000 kilometres and connects West Africa to Europe.
#BossMadamThings
Francisca Okeke: The Atmospheric Scientist
Francisca Okeke is the first female Head of the Department of Physics at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). One of her coolest projects is studying the ionosphere, a layer of the Earth’s atmosphere that plays a big role in how radio signals and satellites work. Thanks to research like hers, we now know more about how the sun messes with this layer, which helps scientists predict “space weather.”
Storm (of the X-Men) better watch out. Dr Okeke is coming for her gig.
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Want to learn more about Nigerians in STEM? ‘I am a Nigerian in STEM’ by Foluke Oyeleye is more than just a collection of stories. It is a platform that uses storytelling to spotlight notable Nigerian men and women in STEM and empower the next generation of STEM leaders. By spotlighting these Nigerian women and others in STEM, the series busts the myth that girls in STEM aren’t cut out for careers in science, tech, engineering, and maths, showing them real-life examples of what they can totally achieve.
In Nigeria? Buy I Am A Nigerian In STEM at any of these bookshops. In the UK? Order here.
