Four outstanding engineering innovations developed by student teams from the Modibbo Adama University of Technology (MAUT), Yola; the University of Ibadan (UI); the University of Jos (UniJos); and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), have emerged as winners of the maiden Nigerian Engineering Olympiad (NEO), sharing ₦110m in seed funding to accelerate the commercialization of their innovations.
At the Grand Finale held in Lagos on June 30, 2026, MAUT received a ₦50m grant as the overall winner, while UI received ₦30m for second place. The University of Jos received ₦20m for third place, and UNN received ₦10m for finishing fourth. Beyond the cash prizes, the winning teams will receive continued technical mentorship, business development support, industry partnerships, and commercialization opportunities.
Also, the engineering faculties of the winning universities were rewarded. MAUT received a Centre of Excellence Building, while UI and UNN received grants of ₦75m and ₦50m respectively, to strengthen engineering education and research.
MAUT emerged the overall winner with “Ubuntu Sapphire”, a decentralized, community-powered rapid alert and security intelligence network built for the security realities of rural and peri-urban Nigeria, where connectivity is poor, security architecture is thin, and millions of households still depend on feature phones.
The University of Ibadan claimed second place with their “Aurora Birth” innovation, a HealthTech solution designed to reduce neonatal deaths from birth asphyxia, especially in low-resource settings.
The University of Jos secured third place with “Sentra,” a solar-powered, AI-enabled crop diagnostic device that detects pests, diseases, and soil nutrient deficiencies before visible symptoms appear, giving smallholder farmers the early warning, they need to act promptly.
The University of Nigeria, Nsukka finished fourth with ‘’Flameless’’ – a containerised, modular power-generation platform that captures associated gas and converts it into electricity, providing reliable and affordable power for households, communities and businesses.
The winning projects distinguished themselves by offering practical, scalable, and commercially viable solutions to critical national challenges in security, healthcare, agriculture, and energy.
The winners emerged from a highly competitive national contest that attracted 375 successful team applicants from among 984 student participants across 80 tertiary institutions.
Thirty teams qualified for the regional stage after the competition, which commenced in November 2025, with projects assessed on technical excellence, innovation, scalability, commercial viability, societal impact, and sustainability.
Speaking at the occasion, Engr. Margaret Oguntola, the immediate past President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), described the initiative as a bold step toward repositioning young engineers as drivers of sustainable national development.
She explained that the NSE was concerned about how to bridge the gap between the abundant talents in the tertiary institutions and technological advancement and industrialization aspirations, which NEO is purposely designed to fill.
Also speaking, Engr. Olutosin Ogunmola, who represented the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) on the NEO Steering Committee, described engineering as the critical difference between developed and developing nations, stressing that the profession remains central to nation-building.
He observed that sectors such as music and reality television have flourished partly because of healthy competition and public recognition, adding that the Olympiad seeks to create similar competitiveness within engineering education while celebrating the ingenuity of students and their lecturers.
In his welcome remarks, Mr. Michael Ajayi, Country Director of Enactus Nigeria, said investing in youth-driven innovation is essential to Nigeria’s future, noting that the competition aligns with the organisation’s mission of promoting youth leadership and enterprise development.
According to him, it is expedient that the country intentionally harnesses its creativity, technical expertise, and entrepreneurial capacity to solve real-world problems, build sustainable businesses, and create jobs.
Speaking in a similar vein, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, said his organization would continue to support the NEO initiative in identifying and developing undergraduate and post-graduate engineering talent.
Ogbe, who was represented by Mr. Silas Omomehin Ajimijaye, Director of Planning Research and Statistics, commended the programme’s partners and challenged them to ensure that the winning innovations progress beyond the competition to reach the market and improve lives.
(The Whistler)
