As technology continues to advance globally, Nigerian youths are ensuring that they take the centre stage of the fast-paced world of innovative inventions.
From creating anti-theft programmes through gaming to soilless farming, Nigerian youths are daily enhancing the quality of life and entrepreneurship that has a huge impact across Africa and the globe.
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A handful of these geniuses were recently showcased by First Bank in a documentary series titled, First Class Material (FCM). The docuseries designed to celebrate Nigerians who are excelling in various fields of endeavour to inspire others as well as project a positive image of the county. This programme, according to First Bank, is similar to the ‘CNN Heros’.
Among the geniuses featured in Season One of FCM is Abduhakim Bashir, the creator of Chiniki Guard helping to create a world where you could detect shop theft, without the need for security personnel.
According to Bashir, the Chiniki Guard uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) and a set of algorithms to detect and prevent theft. It analyses video fields using video analysis software to classify which action a shopper is taking and easily flag suspicious actions
Out of 107 contestants from 77 countries, Bashir emerged the overall best in an anti-theft competition in Dubai recently.
The Katsina indigene graduated from the electrical engineering department in Hassan Usman Katsina Polytechnic and served in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) last year.
Bashir said, “AI can play a huge role but I still believe there are many infrastructural and economic challenges that should be fixed for us to have an improved security as a nation.”
Ogbole Samson is another tech guru. The agronomist has developed a technology that allows residents of urban areas to farm without soil.
Speaking in Abeokuta, Ogun State where he innovates, Ogbole said: “I am a tech-based farmer and my drive is to use technology to push agriculture to the next level.”
He went through some practice at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan in Oyo State in 2013 and by 2016, he left IITA and started promoting his work online – the soilless farming technology.
The Lead Trainer at Soilless Farm Lab further said: “We have enough land but we do not have enough fertile land in Nigeria, with just about 40% of Nigerian land fertile enough to grow crops; also climate change is affecting the right time to plant and harvest in terms of season.”
Ogbole said with the technology, Nigerians can deploy it and farm within and out of season even at their homes without taking much soil.
Basil Opasil Opara, a nine-year-old game developer, has built over 30 games and is the founder, BJR Games. Speaking in one of the 12 series of FCM, Basil said he wants to ensure that there are enough indigenous mobile games in Nigeria rather than depending on foreign ones.
Basil who learnt game programming during a shorty boot-camp said, “My real ambition was to build robots but I thought that building games was not so bad and so I started from there,” he noted.
Beyond showcasing innovators, First Bank said the TV programme which had 12 series in the Season One aired on Linda Ikeji online TV, also involves recruiting two categories of individuals, first-class students across universities and exceptional students in secondary schools, as well as young and upwardly mobile trendsetters and tech start-ups.
The bank which has continually emphasized on many firsts including its FirstGem to empower women entrepreneurs among others, said it is the sponsor of FCM Season 2 starting this month,
Commenting on the second season of the FCM TV show, the Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications at First Bank, Folake Ani-Mumuney said: “Like the first season which showcased exceptional individuals, the forthcoming season promises to share truly inspiring stories of great feats and accomplishments by some of the most unassuming of Nigerians, in country and dotted around the world.
“Our goal is to inspire our youth and encourage them to make informed choices, critical to securing their future whilst impacting mankind and society at large,” she noted.
