A student team from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria has clinched first prize in the AI/Innovation Track at the prestigious Huawei ICT Skills Competition Global Finals held in Shenzhen, China, from May 20–25, 2025.
Competing as #TeamABU2024, the trio — Hadiza Mohammed (Computer Science), Sufiyan Ibrahim and Lawal Dundu Haruna (both of Computer Engineering) — impressed judges with their invention: an AI-powered CropDiseaseDetector designed to identify diseases in staple crops and analyze soil health with multilingual output.
The team was mentored by Dr. Zaharuddeen Haruna of the Department of Computer Engineering and advanced to the global finals after winning both the national and regional rounds of the competition.
According to Prof. M.B. Muazu, Director of the IIOE Nigeria National Centre at ABU, the device diagnoses diseases in crops such as yam, cassava, rice, sorghum, beans, tomato, wheat, potato, soybean, and groundnut, and also assesses soil metrics including nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, temperature, moisture, pH, and conductivity.
Prof. Muazu added that the solution integrates a mobile app compatible with Android, iOS, and Harmony OS, and supports both text and audio feedback in major African languages like English, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, and Pidgin, with text-only support for French, Arabic, Kiswahili, and Afrikaans.
Team member Hadiza Mohammed described the competition as an “enlightening experience” and praised the diversity of innovation and cultures represented at the event.
ABU’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Adamu Ahmed, hailed the achievement as a reflection of the university’s global commitment to technological excellence and pledged full support toward commercializing the innovation. He described the device as “a solution with enormous potential for Africa’s agricultural sector.”
Echoing the sentiment, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Prof. Ahmed Doko Ibrahim, recommended the formalization of TeamABU2024 into a standing innovation club within the university to preserve institutional memory and drive further breakthroughs.
This landmark victory not only brings global recognition to ABU but also shines a spotlight on the role of AI innovation in solving real-world agricultural challenges.
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