By Abdul-Mumin Abdul-Quadir
* Rewards academic excellence, moral discipline
* School Director pledges continuous support for innovative students
Agritech Warriors Team, a group of three students from Al-Hikmat College in Lagos, has developed Agribot, a robot that will help farmers with various farm activities such as ploughing, sowing, and spraying among others.
The robot, which runs on solar energy, was exhibited during the End of Session/Prize Giving Ceremony of Al-Hikmat College, held on Tuesday, July 29, 2025, at Diekola Abanikanda Memorial Event Centre, Lagos.
Muslim News gathered that no fewer than 15 students (7 boys and 8 girls) graduated from the College during the 2024/2025 academic session with the management rewarding best overall first to third, from JSS 1 to SSS 2 for academic excellence and a host of others for moral rectitude.
The spokesperson of the team, Ms. Fareedah Amosuro, said that the initiative is a result of efforts to make agricultural activities easy in the 21st century, attract youths to agriculture and reduce food scarcity in Nigeria and Africa at large.
She disclosed that the team’s aim is to boost efficiency, make farmers more productive and avail the citizenry of more food supply.
According to her, “My team, consisting of Erinfolami Fuad, the Team Lead, Umar Ibrahim, and my humble self felt we’re in a tech world, and no one should be made to go through the rigour of doing things the old way. Farmers, especially, should find easier ways of working effectively and efficiently, providing more food for the nation. So, we felt the need to relieve farmers of the stress they go through on their farmlands.
Ms. Amosuro noted that the robot performs major farm functions and more, adding, “It tills the farmland, weeds, waters plants, sprays fertilisers or insecticides, sows seeds, and does some diagnostics. It monitors farm moisture and soil temperature to detect if plants are in safe condition.
“It receives command from a tablet controlled by the farmers. Its commands are readily installed on the tablet. We initially built it for the CodeAvour, a Coding and Artificial Intelligence (AI) championship for the next generation. Thus, we were limited to Pictoblocks, but after the tournament, we expanded it with more functions and instructions.”
She added that Agribot runs on solar energy so every farmer can use the helping hand anywhere.
“Power and fuel can be a great challenge, and that’s why the Agribot depends on sunlight for energy. Its solar panel was designed to detect the direction of sunlight, adjust to it, and attract energy for the operation of the machine. Moreover, Agribot is an environmentally friendly robot because it uses solar energy.”
She added that her team is willing to make Agribot accessible to farmers and usable on farmlands.
“We intend to make the Agribot an actual machine that can work on farmlands. Maybe not very soon because we’re constrained by lack of funds right now, but someday, we’ll see our dreams come to fruition.”
She thanked the management of Al-Hikmat College and everyone who supported them through the journey.
“We made it to the semifinals of CodeAvour and qualified for the finals in Dubai, but it’s so disheartening that we couldn’t attend the finals due to preparation for WASSCE/NECO. However, we’re thankful to the management of Al-Hikmat College for financial and moral support. They’re the ones who gave us an enabling environment and availed us of funds with which we got the tools we used in the cause. We’d also like to appreciate notable individuals who made financial contributions. We do not take it for granted. Thank you.”
School Director pledges continuous support for students with initiatives
Meanwhile, Director of Al-Hikmat Schools, Alhaja Aminat Abdulkareem pledged continuous support for the students with such initiatives, stressing that the school will continue to encourage and give them an enabling environment where they can thrive.
“These are our children. We see and treat them as such. Great parents don’t clip the wings of their children. They let them fly. That’s why we’re supporting and will continue to support great ideas of theirs. We deliberately rewarded them with a token of #100,000 on our own even before the CodeAvour. We can see that with the enabling atmosphere, more students are showing interest already.
“To keep them in check, we’ve ensured that, alongside their instructor, they also coach their juniors. This will always remind them of what they represent, even if they want to forget. The peer coaching will also help them bond and make indelible marks in their individual and collective tech journeys. We want them to continue with this and make the best out of it.”
* Aim high, School director admonishes graduating students
She admonished the graduating students to aim high and desist from the unhealthy urge to achieve anything within the shortest time possible, noting that success is about the process.
“As for the graduating students, we’d love to see them excel at the top and be happy. That’s why, in my speech, I implored them to refrain from rushing for quick gains.
“That is very rampant among the youths today, and that’s why the majority of them want to delve in cyber crimes, advance fee fraud, and other heinous crimes. We’ve tried our best to make them better versions of themselves. We’ll continue to pray that the larger society doesn’t influence them negatively.
“We also seek the support and collaboration of their parents in ensuring that these children don’t join the bandwagon out there.”
Mother of the day, Mrs Adenike Modinat Adetona, asserted that Al-Hikmat College is one of the best schools that she has ever known.
She said: “My children have attended different schools, but I eventually enrolled them at Al-Hikmat for a reason, and since they started Al-Hikmat College, there has been positive improvement in areas of academics, Islamic knowledge and morals, which Al-Hikmat is known for. I’m more than happy to see the changes. In fact, Al-Hikmat is one of the best schools I’ve ever come across, and that’s why I didn’t hesitate to honour their invitation.
Chairperson of the programme Planning Committee, Hajia Sumayyah Ismail-Badmus expressed great joy over the success of the event.
She said: “I am truly overjoyed and deeply gratified by the outstanding success of this event. Seeing our students celebrated and rewarded for their hard work and achievements filled my heart with joy and pride. This moment will forever be cherished, and I am thankful to have been part of such a wonderful occasion. Alhamdulillah, all praise is due to Allah for this blessing.”
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