Nigeria boasts of Millions of brilliant and innovative tech savvy young citizens, many of whom are producing very excellent tech products. Despite existing challenges facing the country, these bright young tech stars are proving to the world that innovation is possible even in challenging circumstances.
Key Takeaways
- A young self-taught robotics engineer from Nigeria is building innovative Robots and Drones in his backyard with prior training or certification
- The young robotics engineer uses materials sourced from dumpsites and online markets to build State of the Art Robots and Drones
- He plans to setup his own Aircraft Manufacturing company producing light weight innovative Airplanes
Meet Joshua Olaiya a Self-Taught Robotics Engineer
Joshua Olaiya, is a 23-year-old self-taught robotics prodigy from Nigeria. Joshua started building technology at age 13 by teaching himself through YouTube and sci-fi inspiration. He is the founder of ySpace and focuses on AI, electric vehicles, and drones aimed at reducing manual labor, with his personal brand ranked high in global robotics/hacks.
How Joshua Olaiya Began His Journey into Robotics
As a kid, Joshua was obsessed with figuring out how things worked. Without any formal background in computer science, Joshua’s tech journey began out of necessity and pure curiosity at the age of just 13. He began his robotics journey by dismantling toys and examining electronics. Amazingly, his skills are self-taught, thanks to spending countless hours watching YouTube videos and reading online articles.
Joshua Olaiya-BBC
At age 17, The young tech visionary recently went viral for his “hand gesture robot” he developed when he was only 17years of age. Right now, Joshua is working on a ground-breaking project: a robotic arm controlled by brain signals. His hope is to assist people with disabilities, yet another sector that can benefit from robotics today. His inspiring story in robotics provides hope and motivation for many aspiring STEM professionals, especially those from underrepresented communities around Africa.
But the Young Robotics Prodigy is not stopping there!
The United Nations says coal, oil and gas emissions are responsible for 75% of global warming and climate change, and they also contribute to greenhouse gas emissions globally.
Joshua Olaiya, the 23-year-old robotics prodigy from Nigeria, is thinking beyond typical applications for robotics. He is hoping to spark a robotics revolution, one that could potentially be the key to fighting climate change in Nigeria and the Whole World.
Photo Collage of Joshua Olaya and his robotic invention
In an interview with BBC Pidgin, Joshua emphasizes the potential role that robotics could play in combating climate change, underlining its importance in the energy transition by increasing efficiency and autonomy.
The 23-year-old self-taught robotics engineer is building electric powered cars and other electronics to help reduce the harmful effects of global warming.
Joshua says “The target is to reduce dependency on cars that emit smoke for our roads and replace them with electric cars that does not emit smoke”.
He added “You know these emitted smoke causes global warming, I wish contribute my quota to mankind by producing products that can help to stop global warming”.
He says “In the next ten years, I want to turn cars that use fuel for Africa roads to electric cars that does not emit smoke.”
The secondary school dropout says he ventured into robotics from the age of 13 and he has produced different variety of products that can aid the activities of human beings.
“I draw my designs myself using computer software and I follow patterns to build the end physical product; I have built a spider robot which can help security teams to carry out espionage and spy work undetected” says Joshua.
According to him, his robot can walk through a fire scene unharmed, thereby helping to save lives and move heavy stuff out of fire emergencies.
Joshua Olaiya’s robotic inventions on display – BBC
Joshua says he has completed some of his products, while some are still going through development process and he still has plenty other inventions in his head which he hopes to develop and complete in the nearest future.
“One of my recent projects is an electric motor and bike which does not emit smoke unlike cars used on Nigerian roads. When complete, the two of them will run on battery and solar energy from the sun”
“In future I hope to setup my own aircraft making company and I go will build robots that can human beings” says Joshua.
Joshua says he sources his materials from streets and dump sites and most times buys tools from online markets to aid his work. He says he has previously written exams with foreign agencies that will train him better, and help him to improve his work.
He describes curiosity as a major propelling force in his career, a constant and unsettling need to understand how and why systems work. As for necessity, the urge to build a platform to support a business idea without the funds to hire a developer, Joshua urges for more initiatives that encourages young people from underrepresented groups to pursue careers in technical fields. With his work, he hopes to inspire other African youths to enter STEM disciplines.
Joshua Olaiya’s story highlights the simple yet powerful message that perseverance, passion, and a thirst for knowledge can overcome any obstacle, even in the face of limited resources and support.
Nigeria is a country that is highly blessed with many young innovative Tech talents. A good view of the country’s wealth of innovative tech prospects can be seen in Worlds’s renowned Nigerian born Robotics Engineer Silas Adekunle. While highly trained, his journey involved early fascination with robotics in Nigeria, later building the world’s first intelligent gaming robot, MekaMon, and advancing AI in Africa, UK and whole world.
Silas Adekunle is the Founder and CEO of MekaMon Robotics. Silas Adekunle just like millions of other brilliant and innovative tech savvy Nigerians, was born in the slums of Nigeria where he grew up and later moved to UK at the age of 13 to pursue his dream in robotics engineering. Today, Silas is a renowned Robotics Engineer producing fantastic pieces of Robots and even rumored to be the world’s highest paid Robotics Engineer in many quarters.
Joshua’s story is not just impressive, it is rare. It’s uncommon to see a self-taught technologist from Nigeria not only enter but lead innovation in robotics, a space still dominated by elite institutions and resource-rich nations.
In Nigeria today, thousands of brilliant Tech talents remain uncovered and untapped. Today, the Nigerian Government has setup Tech and Skills developing programs such as 3 Million Tech Talents aimed at recruiting, training and developing young Nigerian Tech Brains.
If these young tech brains are given the platform, training, tools and necessary resources to develop their innermost tech skills, then the world might just be prepared to marvel at the variety of Tech inventions and advancements in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence that are sure to come out of the country.
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