Nigerian women need to take advantage of opportunities provided by information and communication technologies (ICTs) to fight discrimination and advance gender issues.

This is according to a call made by the speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal while officially opening the third National Women in Parliament Summit in Abuja.

“Women should explore the avenue, not just to post issues on gender discrimination, but also to access information on employment, education, health services, protection and politics among others,” he said.

Tambuwal said that discrimination contributes to increased poverty levels of any nation.

“It does not only deny a large part of our citizens their rights to achieve their potentials, but it also denies the nation the benefits of the contribution of these people,” he added.

The speaker also identified the denial of girl-child education and discrimination against women in the workplace in Nigeria as some of the ways in which inequality has been entrenched in the country.

“This discrimination not only worsens the poverty level of women, but denies them the ability to own their means of livelihood or even to fully participate in business or politics,” he said.