OPL’S Women in Construction
OPL ALUMNI WOMEN
We already know how heavily marginalized the blue-collar workspace is; the women in the construction industry are an even more marginalized group of people, thriving in a male-dominated space. These are women who were told the construction world wasn’t made for them. They show up anyway!
Some of these women are electricians. Some are civil engineers. Some run their own painting companies. They are, in every measurable way, professionals in an industry that has not really made space for them.
We interviewed four of our OPL alumni, women taking up space in the construction space. These are their words.
01 · OPL SCHOLARS PROGRAM
Eniola Ibiwoye, OPL ACADEMY ALUMNI
Eniola Ibiwoye
Electrical Installation Graduate · GTC Agidingbi, 2024 · Best Female Electrical Student, Lagos State
Enola was our 2025 OPL Scholar; her story was so inspiring that we made a documentary about her journey. Raised by two parents who gave everything so three children could have more, Eniola learned early that having a skill and mastering it is one thing no one can take from you.
In 2024, Eniola Ibiwoye studied Electrical Installation at the Government Technical College, Agidingbi and walked out as the best student in her entire cohort, recognized by the Governor of Lagos State
“I always dreamed of becoming an electrical engineer. From the moment I arrived at GTC, I gave it everything. I knew my family had sacrificed to give me this chance, and I was not going to waste it.”
— Eniola Ibiwoye
When asked how she felt about getting awarded by the government, she said
“It meant that the work was real. Not just for me — but as proof that a young woman from an ordinary family can stand at the top of her class in a technical field. I want other girls to see that and believe it is possible for them too.”
— Eniola Ibiwoye
She is now placed with Strepris Nigeria Limited, sponsored by Bettah Life Insurance. The partnership is an investment in what she can become.
02 · BREAKING GROUND
Adejoke Silver Yusuf
Civil Engineering · Aspiring Construction Manager · OPL Alumna
There are many women walking and operating in rooms full of people waiting for them to fail. That’s the story of many women working in male-dominated spaces, ladies just like 20 years old Silver.
When asked what it feels like working in the construction space as a woman, Silver mentioned that being small in frame makes it even harder.
Although, this has never stopped her passion or drive for her chosen profession. She’s only felt love for a profession she had not expected to claim her so completely. Inspired by her father, who wanted so badly for his daughter to become a female engineer, Silver keeps going further, from civil engineering to construction management, one wall at a time.
But the path has not been smooth. In construction, being a woman is not just an identity; sometimes it feels like a target.
“Sometimes it feels like being a small fish in the midst of wild animals. People question whether you can cope, whether you even belong there. And it goes beyond the work — there are men who, rather than treating you as a colleague, will try to take advantage of you. You walk onto a site, and instead of being assessed on your ability, someone is asking if you can be their girlfriend. You have to know what you are doing and stay focused—because if you don’t, the distractions will pull you away from your purpose.”
— Adejoke Silver Yusuf
Then she tells us about the day.
She walked into her department. The men looked her up and down. “Ha is this you? This small girl? Are you sure you can fit in for this?” She felt the sting, the heat behind their eyes. That day, she went home carrying something heavy: the depth of what it feels like, the part where you need to work twice as hard to be recognized as a female in the construction industry.
And then she made a decision.
She came back. She did the work. She summoned everything she had and stunned every single one of them with results.
“I do not let anyone write me off. I do not let anyone look down on me or make me feel less of myself just because I am in this field.”
— Adejoke Silver Yusuf
OPL came to her school in 2023, and Silver says it’s one of the best things that’s truy happened to her career. She is still in the OPL community. She is still growing, she says, with the certainty of someone who already knows where she is going.
“I am still growing. And I know I will grow better than this.”
— Adejoke Silver Yusuf
What she wants to see change is not complicated. She wants women to be given the chance to lead. Not tolerated on site, just trusted with it.
“Go for it. No matter the challenges, no matter the difficulties, if you are determined and it is truly your passion, you will succeed. Do not let anyone talk you out of something you love.”
— Adejoke Silver Yusuf
03 · FEMALE ENGINEER
Rebbeccah Oyinye
Engineer, Underwood Constructions
Being the firstborn of four does something to a person. It hands you a weight you never asked for, and somewhere along the way, you stop seeing it as a burden and start seeing it as a reason.
Rebbeccah Oyinye does not dwell on the moments that were meant to make her feel small. Not because they did not happen. But because she decided, a long time ago, that they would not define her direction. She is a practicing engineer at Underwood Constructions.
“I have been told, more times than I can count, that I cannot do this because I am a woman. And every single time, that became my drive.”
— Rebbeccah Oyinye
The fuel, she says, comes from who is watching. Her siblings. The three people behind her who are looking at what she does with this life and deciding what is possible for theirs.
Her belief about women in this industry is not tentative. It does not come with qualifications.
“I believe a woman should be able to do whatever she wants to do and not be told off from chasing her dreams. Full stop. There is no version of construction, or engineering, or any field where women do not belong. We belong everywhere we choose to be.”
— Rebbeccah Oyinye
OPL, she says, gave her something she had read about in theory but never held in her hands: real, practical skill. The kind you carry into the outside world with confidence.
“OPL showed me what it actually feels like to have hands-on skills, to be truly professional, especially in the outside world.” — Rebbeccah Oyinye
What she wants from the industry is straightforward: more opportunities. More doors. The determination, she says, will come from the women. The industry just needs to stop locking them out.
“Women need to be strong-headed about their passion, but the doors also need to open wider. We can do it. That is not a question anymore. The question is whether the industry is ready to admit it.”
— Rebbeccah Oyinye
04 · PROFESSIONAL PAINTER
Omotoke Omoniyi, OPL Alumni
Omotoke Oyeniyi
Founder, Toksy Interior · Project Supervisor & Manager · Coker Colours Colony Ltd
Most people look at a freshly painted wall and see a wall. Omotoke looks at it and sees the hours, the color decisions made and remade, and the preparation. The world needs more color, and being a painter is a profession Omotoke holds dear to her heart.
“Painting is not just applying color on walls. It is about bringing life to buildings—creating environments people enjoy living and working in.”
— Omotoke Oyeniyi
The challenges she describes are layered. The first is the one most people might guess: the assumption that climbing ladders and carrying materials is men’s work. Some clients will not hire a female painter outright. The door closes before she even knocks.
The second challenge is the one people rarely say aloud. Omotoke says it plainly.
“Some people will want to sleep with you before they give you the job.”
— Omotoke Oyeniyi
This is a reality she is naming out loud so that the next woman who faces it knows: it is not about you. It was never about your ability. And you do not have to accept it.
“Several projects I have executed following standard painting systems have convinced people that women can deliver good painting jobs just like men. I have convinced them with the work. Not with words.”
— Omotoke Oyeniyi
She discovered OPL through a training organized for Alimosho Construction in 2024. The monthly webinars and the soft skills sessions have changed something in how she carries herself.
What she wants to see changed in the industry is also similar to the other women: equal recognition. Equal opportunity. Leadership roles for women. And access to tools.
“Our tools are now beyond brush and roller. Modern equipment, full PPE — these things are expensive. If the industry is serious about including women, it needs to help us access what we need to compete.”
— Omotoke Oyeniyi
Her advice to the woman standing at the edge of this industry, wondering whether to step in:
“Go. Your passion will carry you through the hard parts. The challenges are real, but so is the satisfaction of finishing a project and knowing you did it right. Build your professionalism like armor. Let your work speak. And do not, for a single moment, let anyone convince you this is not your space.”
— Omotoke Oyeniyi
One Precious Life.
Four women. Four different trades. Four different versions of the same story: showing up where you were not expected, doing the work no one believed you could do, and refusing to leave a space simply because someone decided it was not yours.
OPL Academy, One Precious Life, is Nigeria’s construction industry employment accelerator. With a community of over 4,000 construction personnel and connections to more than 10,000 professionals, OPL Academy equips young Nigerians with market-relevant technical and soft skills and connects them directly with employers through Laborhack, its sister company.
#WomenInConstruction · #OPLAcademy · oplacademy.ng
