Osaide For Girls in Science and Engineering Foundation has urged girls to be fiscally disciplined and literate to live a better life.
Founder, Patricia Nekpen, spoke at International girls day, at Baptist Junior High School, Obanikoro, Lagos.
She said financial literacy she learnt helped her greatly.
‘One of the lessons I learned in my young age from my mother is how to manage finances. And that has helped me. I worked about five years before retirement. I started saving from that time. And when I retired, I came out with a lot of money. It was almost 200 million that I saved in those 35 years. So, for me, teaching the children how to save is key and is important,’ she said.
She added that it was important for kids to understand the value of money as it is habitual for them to always spend money as they see it, rather than saving or investing it.
‘And they have to understand the value of money. So, whatever you say your money is to you, that’s what it is. If you just see it as, oh, it’s just N100, let me go buy sweets, let me go buy chewing gum, that’s what it will be. You chew that gum, you throw it away, that N100 is no longer your money. But if you save it or you invest it, it will just keep turning out for you,’ she said.
She said the foundation was keen on mentoring girls to study science and technology courses in the university.
She said the foundation also sponsors girls to university.And we pick up our girls, give them scholarship.
She lamented the scarcity of female engineers but said her foundation has been encouraging women to join the science and engineering field.
‘Over the years, we have encouraged women into science and engineering and the number has grown,’ she said.