Adaeze Ruth Akpagbula’s PenKeep invention emerges overall winner of InnovateNaija 2026, highlighting Nigeria’s growing innovation potential.
Enugu Media Village (EMV), the Most Updated Online News Platform — October 9, 2026.
An innovator from Abia State, Adaeze Ruth Akpagbula, has won the ₦100 million grand prize at the 2026 InnovateNaija Final Pitch Event and Awards Ceremony organised by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) in partnership with AfriLabs.
Akpagbula, co-founder of Farm Speak, emerged the overall national winner with her PenKeep Smart Poultry Climate Control System, a locally developed technology designed to help farmers manage environmental conditions and address climate-related challenges in agricultural production.
The award marks a significant achievement for Abia State and underscores the potential of Nigerian innovators to develop homegrown solutions to practical challenges in agriculture and other critical sectors of the economy.
Technology Designed to Support Farmers
The PenKeep system is designed to help manage climate-related challenges in poultry farming, aquaculture, greenhouse production and smart irrigation. By helping farmers better monitor and control production environments, the technology could support improved farm management and help reduce losses associated with unfavourable environmental conditions.
Akpagbula, an agricultural engineer, co-founded Farm Speak with her husband, Kita Okoma. She said the ₦100 million prize would help the company expand its production capacity and extend the technology’s reach to more farmers.
Her success also draws attention to the challenges facing hardware innovators in Nigeria, including funding constraints, inadequate infrastructure and unreliable electricity supply.
FG Reaffirms Commitment to Homegrown Innovation
Representing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the ceremony, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Dr Kingsley Tochukwu Udeh, said the Federal Government was committed to transforming Nigerian ideas and prototypes into commercially viable products, industries and employment opportunities.
He emphasised the need to strengthen connections between researchers, innovators, investors and industries to ensure that locally developed technologies move beyond the prototype stage and reach the marketplace.
The minister also disclosed that President Tinubu had forwarded a bill to the National Assembly seeking the establishment of a National Research and Innovation Development Fund to provide dedicated support for research, inventions and innovations with commercial potential.
InnovateNaija Extends Support Across Nigeria
The InnovateNaija initiative reached more than 3,500 young Nigerians across the country’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, providing a platform to identify promising ideas and support their development.
The competition produced 36 state champions, each initially receiving ₦2.5 million, while the top three national winners received ₦100 million, ₦30 million and ₦20 million, respectively.
Governors of Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Plateau and Kaduna states also matched the ₦2.5 million grants awarded to their respective state champions, bringing the support for each of those beneficiaries to ₦5 million.
The initiative reflects growing efforts to encourage innovation beyond Nigeria’s established technology hubs and to create opportunities for talented individuals to develop solutions in agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, education, renewable energy and climate technology.
Implications for Nigeria’s Economic Development
Akpagbula’s achievement demonstrates how locally developed technology can address practical challenges while creating opportunities for business expansion, job creation and improved agricultural productivity.
For Nigeria to fully benefit from such innovations, sustained investment in research, access to affordable financing, reliable infrastructure, technical mentorship and stronger links between innovators and potential customers will remain essential.
The success of the Abia innovator also sends an encouraging message to young Nigerians: ideas developed locally can attract national recognition and funding when they demonstrate the potential to solve real-world problems.
As the Federal Government continues to promote homegrown technology, the long-term measure of success will be how effectively promising inventions are transformed into accessible products, sustainable businesses and solutions that improve the lives of Nigerians.
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