Egerton-Idehen Embarks on a National Book Tour

Yinka Olatunbosun

With eyes on promoting gender equality, increasing female representation in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers and providing support and direction for professional women, Jane Egerton-Idehen, a Tech Executive, Author and Speaker has launched ‘Be Fearless, Campaign’ a national campaign focused on highlighting the hurdles that prevent women from fulfilling their potential.

This campaign features a book tour coveringabout 20 tertiary institutions in Nigeria, book reading sessions at some leading book stores, scholarships to female students in STEM courses and a formal launch of her new book. It is designed to encourage leading entrepreneurs and businesswomen in Nigeria to share their experiences on building successful careers, the challenges they encountered and to inspire and empower young African women.

Egerton-Idehen is concerned about the gender gap that still undermines the economic security of most Nigerian women which limits their ability to work and pursue a career. For this reason, she advocates for gender equality focused on enabling higher growth, productivity and economic stability.According to her, Nigerian women still have just three-fourths the legal rights and opportunities of men.

At the online release of her new book “Be Fearless: Give yourself permission to be You”, Egerton-Idehen who is also the Country Manager Nigeria/Regional Sales Manager, West Africa for Avanti Communications emphasized the under-representation of women in corporate Nigeria and challenges young women to pursue their dreams.

“There is a significant gender imbalance in corporate Nigeria, especially in the technology industry where ratio of women to men is as high as 1:5. We must now deliberately work towards a more balanced sector where everyone is enabled. The theme of the International Women’s Day ‘Each for Equal’ reminds us that there is still more to be done towards improving gender equality and fostering a healthier, wealthier and more harmonious world. We hope to encourage more young girls and stimulate gender-equality discussions, via this campaign, my new book, endowments to girls and the experiences of many African women who are contributing to this campaign”, she said.

The book “Be Fearless: Give yourself permission to be You” chronicles the author’s remarkable experiences,challenging gender roles and stereotypes, from her rise from the slums of Ajegunle in Lagos to brokering million-dollar deals for global telecoms giants. Egerton-Idehen opens up about her less-privileged background, education, career journey, marriage and motherhood stories, exploring the cultural expectations, biases, and impossibilities that turn dreams of career success into wishful thinking and demystifies them. The book is available online.

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