The Nigerian Academy of Engineering (NAE) has awarded N17.5 million to the winners of the inaugural engineering innovation competition, which is meant to encourage and reward local innovators.

The winners were picked after a rigorous selection process supervised by experienced engineers and fellows of the academy, who accessed the products based on the practicality of the idea, clarity, and viability, novelty, relevance to societal problems and potential for commercialisation.

Developers of the ‘Solar-powered smart irrigation system’, a device that solves agriculture problems by mitigating effects of irregular rainfall patterns due to climate change, led by Dr Olugbenga Ogidan from Elizade University, Ondo State, came first in the competition and were awarded N10 million.

Mr Izumunna Obinna, who developed an intruder safety device, came second and won N5 million, while the third position went to the developers of BMV-6 ventilator, who was awarded N2.5 million, and Dr lwar Raphael Terungwa won $4,000 for travel fellowship grant for further study in Malaysia.

The forum held in Lagos, attracted 10 best engineering innovation exhibitors including members of Queen’s College Lagos Team that developed a robotic device, out of the 108 entries received.

Addressing the gathering, NAE President, Prof Peter Onwualu, called on governments and private sector to increase funding support for engineering innovators towards the commercialisation of solutions that address societal challenges.

Onwualu said the academy believed that the younger generation should drive the process for sustainable development driven by technology, which gave birth to the national innovation competition that rewards people, who provide engineering solutions to problems in different sectors of the Nigerian environment.

“Our focus is that each of the projects should lead to scale-up and start-up. We are happy that some corporate organisations have supported this venture.

We used a set of criteria to evaluate ideas that have promise for scale-up. From 108 applications, we pruned them down to 20 and physically evaluated the 20 innovations and brought the number down to ten innovators, which provided solutions that cut across different sectors of the economy,” he said.

He emphasised the need for innovators to assemble materials used in developing devices locally as the only way to reduce the high cost of technology for solving problems in the country.

Onwualu debunked claims that there are no innovators in Nigeria, stressing that the Federal Ministry of Innovation Science and Technology have a yearly tech show in Abuja, adding that the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion markets technology development in the country. He said the NAE is partnering with Ministries, Departments and Agencies to escalate the innovations for possible adoption of the devices.

Chairman, NAE National Innovation Committee, Dr ‘Keluo Chukwuogo, said it is science and technology that bring national development to any society. However, he said efforts in this direction are not adequately celebrated in the fields in Nigeria whereas they are celebrated in the films, art and culture.

He said the NAE feels innovators in the engineering space should be celebrated, seek for sponsors, commercialise their products and make money from their inventions.

He advised the younger generation not to get scared of science and technology but to persevere towards making a mark in those fields. Chukwuogo noted that real superstars in any economy are those involved in the development of enterprise, engineering and other sciences. He said the inventions were selected based on relevance to local needs, development and other criteria and acknowledged that the NAE felt encouraged by the quality of innovations developed and exhibited.

In his remark, Ogidan said the smart irrigation device will address the needs of farmers. He called on the Federal Government to assist researchers, and innovators to make Nigeria better.

He appreciated the NAE for believing in innovators, stressing that African problems are better solved by Africans. “A lot of young Nigerians have ideas but are incapacitated by funds and because we have a government that doesn’t believe in us, many of these people have found their ways out of the country and are doing well. Many of the things we are going to China and India to import can be done in Nigeria if given the enabling environment,” he said.

In a presentation, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, of MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola, harped on the efficiency of 5-G technology in aiding the smooth functioning of innovative devices, adding that the company is working hard to ensure full deployment of the technology across locations to enhance quality of living and economic development. Toriola allay fears of negative impact on human health from using the 5-G technology.