The Kids Innovation Hub, an initiative of The Destiny Trust, a child well-being foundation, has held the 2024 edition of its Kids Innovation Challenge, a competition designed to reward young innovators in Nigeria.

Attended by many tech enthusiasts, the event, won by a teenager who designed a biobag, was held on September 14 at Radisson Blu, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The competition offered young Nigerian innovators an opportunity to compete with one another on technology-based ideas and solutions that are expected to address critical social challenges being faced by children all around the world.

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THE CO-FOUNDER’S OPENING ADDRESS

In his opening remarks, Abimbola Ojenike, the co-founder of The Destiny Trust, said contrary to the impression held by many, the innovation did not start in 2023.

“We did not start the Kid’s Innovation Challenge in 2023. As a matter of fact, we started the event in 2018, but it was on a very small scale,” said Ojenike.

“The very first edition of this event was held in Bogije, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos. We test-ran the event for many years before we eventually went public with it last year.

“I am delighted we are again able to hold the second edition of the event publicly for a second time.”

Ojenike further said he was pleased this year’s challenge had children from all over Nigeria in attendance as participants.

“I am happy this is not just a competition for children who only reside in Lagos,” said Ojenike.

“It is a pan-Nigerian competition. Today, we have competitors from Plateau, Anambra and other parts of the country in attendance.

“As a matter of fact, some of them did not even make it to the finals. About 54 participating groups started the competition. Today, 10 of them are still in the race.”

He also spoke about the abundance of kids with various technological skills and talents in the country.

“About a month ago, we visited many places all over the country in our bid to ensure that children with huge potentials are given the opportunity to empower themselves with technological skills,” Ojenike said.

“During our visits to these places, one thing stood out: The Nigerian child is an extremely brilliant person; Nigerian children are talented. Despite the talent being everywhere, however, the opportunity to use what they have to excel in life is scarce.

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“Take Igbo-Ora as an example. The children we trained started writing the codes for their website in less than a week.

“The day we had our first demo there, I never even imagined they would be able to start coding on their own in less than a week. The same thing happened in Arapagi, a settlement in Ibeju-Lekki where they have not had electricity for many years.

“The only form of power they have in Arapagi is the solar-powered electricity we installed in one of our learning centres there. Yet, these kids are able to excel in their tasks despite the many challenges they face daily.

“That simply means that if we invest so much more in the Nigerian child, we stand the chance of benefitting numerous innovations that can advance living from them.”

THE EVENT’S JUDGES

A panel of judges comprising seasoned and leading tech experts in the country were present at the competition to assess and score participants.

On the panel were Dr. Tobi Moody, Director, World Intellectual Property Organisation, Nigeria; Princess Edo-Osagie, Head Product Leadership and Agile Governance, the Interswitch Group; Kunle Erinle, CEO/Founder, Intelligent Innovations; and Echezona Agubata, Chief Technology Officer, Coronation Merchant Bank.

The panel also had members like Oluwatosin Olaseinde, Founder, Money Africa and Ladda; Ezinne Nwazulu, Director, Nepal Energies; Rabiu Yaya, Principal Group Engineering manager, Microsoft; and Femi Olapegba, Managing Director, Digital Health Platforms Limited.

Oyinkansola Akintola-Bello, Director, UK-Nigeria Tech Hub; Ugo Nwaokike, Senior Counsel, Paystack; Oluwajoba Oloba, Founder, The Nest Innovation Technology; Afolabi Olamide, CEO/Co-founder, Touch and Pay Technologies Limited; Sikemi Tayo, CTOO, kitWorks Innovations Limited; Taiwo Popoola, ICT Programme Director, Ericsson Nigeria; and Teju Adeyinka, Product Manager, OX, were other members of the panel.

10 EXCEPTIONAL CONTESTING GROUPS

The competition saw a group of 10 finalists compete for cash prizes ranging from N500,000 to N1 million.

The 10 competing groups were Eco Dash, a team of talented individuals who created a game to solve climate challenges through education; SDG Quest, a team of teenagers who had developed an AI-powered application capable of educating people on Sustainable Development Goals; Tech Fusion Tribe, an innovative platform that planned designed to educate people on how to manage waste resources; Kingdom Tech Ambassadors, a group of participants who had developed a smart water management system; and GRF Group, a team that had created a smart incinerator that converts was wastes to energy.

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The other groups were Eduswap, a team of young innovators who had designed a mobile/web application capable of facilitating peer-to-peer learning; Gov Trust Team, a group of talented Nigerians who had developed an AI model that could help the government determine resources that are lacking in the educational sector; Team Echo, a group that developed “Mental Ease”, an application capable of catering for people’s mental health issues; Naija Biobag, a group that developed a revolutionary solution that could help combat the challenges of climate change; and the Eduboost group.

NIJA BIOBAG, THE WINNING TEAM

At the end of the competition, Blessing Adetona, the creator of the Naija Biobag, was declared winner of the Kids Innovation Challenge 2024.

The biobag he designed is meant to help Nigerians solve the issue of plastic pollution, deforestation and food waste.

As the winner of the competition, Adetona went home with a prize money of N1 million and a plaque.

The Tech Fusion Tribe finished as the competition’s first runner-up. The group won a N750,000 prize money and a plaque.

The GRF Group finished as the second runner-up, winning a N500,000 prize money and a plaque.

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All 10 finalists were also presented with certificates of achievement.

To select the winners, the panel of judges considered the originality of the ideas the different groups pitched, effectiveness of the innovative ideas and relevance to social challenges and market potential.

The other yardsticks they considered were scalability, feasibility, demonstrated technical capacity, presentation, communication and impact.