Students from Government Technical College, Ikotun, Lagos State, have emerged winners of the 2026 Kids Innovation Challenge, with the design of a solar-powered educational robot designed to support learning in rural and off-grid communities.
The Kids Innovation Challenge, organised through the Kids Innovation Africa programme of The Destiny Trust (TDT), a non-governmental organisation, offers children from public schools and underprivileged communities the opportunity to producively engage their creative skills with technology.
For the 2026 edition, the focus was on navigating practical inventions in contributing to safer schools, food security, climate resilience, through the responsible use of artificial intelligence and other supporting technologies.
The winning team, comprised of Adam Abubakri, Owede Divine and Taofeeq Thaoba, developed Smarteach, a portable robot designed to function as an offline teaching assistant for children with limited access to educational resources.
The grand finale of the competition, which held in Lagos on September 12, 2026, brought together more than 1,500 schoolchildren from across Nigeria, alongside technology experts and mentors.
Lagos State Model College, Meiran, emerged second with the development of Smartfarm, a project developed by Fanika Faith, Giwa Olaosebikan and Olaoye Rhoda. Smartfarm uses automated irrigation, soil-moisture detection, surveillance, pest control, fire detection and other sensor technologies to improve food production and protect farm produce.
Naija Mascot, developed by team members, Malik Oye, Zacson Favour, Bethel and Chizaram from Delta State, placed third. The project explores affordable artificial intelligence-powered smart glasses aimed at helping blind and severely visually impaired students with reading, movement, object recognition and navigation.
Speaking at the event, co-founder of TDT, Abimbola Ojenike, said children need to be equipped with digital and creative skills alongside basic education.
‘Our work of educating children today must go beyond basic literacy, even while admitting that basic literacy itself is still an overwhelming challenge,’ Ojenike said.
‘We need to give children the digital and creativity tools they need to become problem-solvers. In every corner of Nigeria, even in unlikely low-resource settings, children are demonstrating the capacity to learn technology skills and build solutions.
‘Today is about the celebration of the greatness in the Nigerian child and the reminder that we must work harder to make opportunities more common for all children, and do all we can to include all children in a new digital world.’
Prior to the event, 10 finalist teams participated in an inception bootcamp at Oracle’s headquarters in Lagos. The programme included mentorship sessions and training on artificial intelligence, innovation development, emerging technologies, technology for good and intellectual property commercialisation.
The organisers added that the 10 finalist teams would proceed to a post-Challenge incubation programme supported by UK-Nigeria Tech Hub and Tech4Dev, and the programme is expected to provide the finalists with micro innovation development grants, mentoring and additional technology skills development.
The 2026 edition was supported by Aruwa Capital Management as headline sponsor, as well as UK-Nigeria Tech Hub, Oracle Academy, WIPO, Tech4Dev, Kingmakers, Moniepoint, Q21, Gamaliel and Susan Onosode Foundation (GAMSU), MoneyKids, Nestlé, GenerativeCAD, Flashforge, Shuttlers, Slingstone LP, Ladda, Skillpaddy and Intelligent Innovations.
According to TDT, the initiative is aimed at expanding access to technology and innovation opportunities for children, particularly those from underserved communities.