The University of Port Harcourt and University of Benin have emerged as South-South regional champions in the Nigerian Engineering Olympiad (NEO), securing places in the competition’s national boot camp after presenting technology-driven solutions targeting critical social and infrastructure challenges.
The competition, hosted at the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) headquarters in Yenagoa, is a nationwide engineering, innovation, and entrepreneurship initiative launched in 2025 by Enactus Nigeria in partnership with NCDMB, Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, First Exploration & Petroleum Development Company, and the Nigerian Society of Engineers.
Representing UNIPORT, Team PROTRONICS won with its innovation known as KEYTRIC, a smart power-control system designed to reduce electricity waste and improve household safety. The solution integrates an intelligent door-locking system that automatically disconnects electricity supply when users leave their homes.
The student innovators said the technology addresses persistent challenges including high electricity bills, fire risks caused by unattended appliances, and the high cost of conventional smart-home systems. According to the team, KEYTRIC eliminates the need for expensive rewiring and does not rely on internet connectivity, making it more accessible for the Nigerian market.
The University of Benin team, VHORDE, advanced with its project IRIS — Intelligent Real-time Interface for Sight — an assistive technology solution designed for visually impaired individuals.
The prototype combines wearable smart glasses, haptic feedback systems, cameras, microphones, and artificial intelligence-powered object recognition to help visually impaired users navigate their environment in real time. The team noted that the device is targeted at Nigeria’s estimated 4.5 million visually impaired people.
According to the developers, the system uses edge AI computing, allowing functions such as obstacle detection, face recognition, voice interaction, and scene interpretation to operate offline without constant internet access.
The students also outlined a commercialisation strategy for the product, projecting a production-scale retail price of N699,000 for the standard version of IRIS, with features including real-time scene identification, hazard alerts, and over-the-air software updates.
Speaking during the event, Engr. Dokubo Obongo, Manager of Institutional Strengthening at the NCDMB and one of the competition judges, described the innovations presented by participating universities as commercially viable and relevant to Nigeria’s socio-economic realities.
“The idea is to see how we can proffer solutions to our own problems,” he said, noting that the Olympiad is focused on driving home-grown research, innovation, and business creation from Nigerian universities.
Enactus Nigeria Country Director, Mr. Michael Ajayi, disclosed that the top two teams from each of Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones would proceed to a national boot camp ahead of the championship finals.
He added that the top three national winners would share a N100 million prize pool, while each of the 30 participating teams in the regional stage would receive N3 million in support funding.
The competition reflects growing efforts by public and private sector stakeholders to strengthen Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem, encourage technology commercialization, and build a pipeline of engineering talent capable of addressing Africa’s infrastructure, energy, and accessibility challenges through locally developed solutions.