Scholars from Sunflower Faculty, Kano State, have gained Junior Fulfillment Nigeria’s (JAN) 2026 Nationwide Corporate of the Yr Festival with a man-made intelligence-powered platform designed to assist farmers make higher agricultural choices.
The group, Agrolens Applied sciences, comprising Fadillah Abdulsalam, Ruqayya Jallo, Hayfa Mukhtar and Maryam Butu, gained a US$250 money prize and an all-expenses-paid shuttle to Cape The city, South Africa, the place it is going to constitute Nigeria on the African Corporate of the Yr Festival.
Their innovation, AgroLens AI, is a unfastened cellular platform that mixes crop illness and pest detection, remedy suggestions, real-time marketplace costs, connections to consumers and data on agricultural financing.
AgroLens AI helps English, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and Nigerian Pidgin. Its voice-enabled options are designed to make agricultural knowledge extra obtainable to farmers with restricted literacy or those that in finding talking more uncomplicated than typing.
The group’s victory was once introduced on the nationwide festival and a early life entrepreneurship convening held in Lagos on Wednesday, 21 October, underneath the theme, “Augmenting Innovation: Equipping Nigeria’s Formative years for Entrepreneurship and Livelihoods in a Converting Financial system.”
New Generation Corporate of Group Secondary Faculty, Asokoro, Abuja, positioned 2nd, successful US$150, whilst Nexora World Faculty Lagos got here 3rd with US$100. New Generation additionally won an extra US$100 after successful the Absolute best Company Social Duty Award.
Making ready scholars for the arena of labor
The contest is a part of JAN’s Faculty-to-Paintings Tutorial Transition for Lengthy-Time period Formative years Fulfilment (SET4LYF) programme, which equips women with sensible abilities to pursue additional schooling, entrepreneurship and employment.
Via actions together with Ideathons, JA DEEP, and the JA Corporate Programme, members achieve revel in growing industry concepts, fixing sensible issues, and presenting services and products.
A record revealed through THISDAY highlighted the programme’s broader achieve, announcing SET4LYF reached greater than 98,000 women in its first two years. The initiative seeks to bridge the distance between lecture room finding out and alternatives past college.
Talking on the match, Olaolu Akogun, performing govt director of Junior Fulfillment Nigeria, mentioned younger other folks wanted sensible abilities to evolve to an economic system increasingly more formed through era.
“The younger other folks we’re equipping nowadays can’t come up with the money for to be ready just for the alternatives that existed the previous day. Generation is converting how we paintings, industry and create worth. Our duty is to make sure that younger Nigerians, particularly women, have the abilities, self belief and sensible revel in to take part in and form that converting economic system,” Mr Akogun mentioned.
He highlighted JAN’s partnerships with the Nationwide Formative years Provider Corps, the Joint Nationwide Affiliation of Individuals with Disabilities and state governments. He known as for sustained collaboration to extend get right of entry to to entrepreneurship schooling.
Aliyu Abdullahi, assistant director of schooling and early life construction on the Ministry of Formative years and Social Construction, delivered the keynote cope with on behalf of the minister.
He known as for an schooling device that prioritises sensible competence and problem-solving along educational {qualifications}.
“Levels on my own aren’t sufficient. We will have to transfer younger other folks from being customers of virtual era to changing into creators, problem-solvers and innovators. Coaching will have to result in alternative, and alternative will have to result in livelihoods,” Mr Abdullahi mentioned.
He advocated more potent collaboration amongst govt, educators, and companies to combine entrepreneurship, apprenticeships, internships, and sensible abilities into finding out.
He additionally wired the significance of connecting early life construction programmes to marketplace get right of entry to and rising alternatives within the virtual economic system.
READ ALSO: From Garden to Market: How women’s vegetable farming is transforming household livelihoods in Kaduna
Different awards and alternatives
Past the primary festival, Agrolens Applied sciences won the Product Innovation and Operational Excellence Award, offered through Meals Ideas.
UOFAM Crew of Firms from Distinctive Secondary Faculty, Akure, gained the Public Selection Award and US$50. In the meantime, EcoFlame Innovation won the Excellence in Venture Control and Execution Award from the Venture Control Institute Nigeria.
Ezekiel Sekegh was once named Remarkable Volunteer of the Yr, whilst Isaac Egbe of Sunflower Faculty won the Absolute best Facilitator Award.
In a separate alternative, 15 women from collaborating colleges had been decided on for an absolutely subsidized management coaching camp in Ghana scheduled for March 2027. Delta Air Traces is sponsoring the programme, which recognises management, teamwork, dedication and excellence.
Edwin Idoko, JAN’s Kano State programme officer, credited the state’s schooling government, volunteers and box officials with supporting the scholars’ fulfillment. He mentioned the victory marked Kano State’s 3rd consecutive 12 months of good fortune on the nationwide festival.
The development additionally featured a panel dialogue on bridging foundational finding out with entrepreneurship and marketplace get right of entry to. Individuals tested how mentoring, mission control, incapacity inclusion and private-sector partnerships may assist younger other folks flip lecture room finding out into viable companies.
The 2026 festival was once supported through FirstBank Nigeria, the Venture Control Institute Nigeria, Meals Ideas and Nigerian Bottling Corporate.
Agrolens Applied sciences will now take its agricultural innovation to the continental festival in Cape The city, the place it is going to constitute Nigeria in opposition to student-led enterprises from different African international locations.
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