UNILAG students dominate national AI hackathon

Students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) have recorded an impressive outing at the Data Science Nigeria (DSN) and Bluechip Technologies (BCT) Data & AI Summit Hackathon 3.0, with two teams finishing among the top three in the national competition.

The hackathon attracted 595 teams comprising more than 1,220 participants from over 30 states across Nigeria, challenging contestants to develop scalable artificial intelligence solutions to address real-world problems.

At the end of the competition, UNILAG teams claimed the first and second runner-up positions, reinforcing the institution’s growing reputation in artificial intelligence and technology innovation.

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Team Orbit emerged as the first runner-up with its solution, SABI (Streaming Agent for Behavioral Intelligence). The team was led by Fakorode Henry, a 200-level student of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, alongside Adeyemi Muiz of the same department and Raheem Akapo, a 200-level Systems Engineering student.

The team’s AI-powered platform delivers personalised streaming recommendations by analysing users’ viewing history, regional dialect and mood, offering culturally relevant content suggestions.

Another UNILAG team, Team Inference, secured the second runner-up position with PulseAgent, an AI solution designed specifically for Nigerian users.

The team comprised Aborowa Daniel, a 400-level Computer Science student, alongside Nwokedi Ifechukwu, Elebiemayo Iseoluwa and Victor Chukwuebuka, all 200-level students of the Department of Computer Science.

PulseAgent is a large language model (LLM)-powered dual-agent system equipped with a Nigerian contextualisation layer that enables it to generate recommendations and reviews tailored to local language, culture and user preferences, including responses in Nigerian Pidgin and other local expressions.

The university said the achievement reflects the students’ technical expertise and their ability to develop AI solutions suited to Nigeria’s unique social and cultural environment.

According to the institution, the double podium finish further underscores UNILAG’s emergence as a leading centre for artificial intelligence research, innovation and talent development in Africa.

The university noted that the success aligns with its commitment to producing graduates capable of translating academic knowledge into practical, industry-driven solutions that address national development challenges.

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Folasade Ogunsola, on behalf of the university’s Senate, staff and students, congratulated the two teams for bringing honour to the institution through their outstanding performance at the competitionk.