Borno Students Build Robot Teacher for Crisis-Hit Communities
- Secondary school pupils from Borno State unveiled a humanoid teaching robot named after Governor Babagana Umara Zulum at a graduation ceremony in Maiduguri
- The robot, standing 1.2 metres tall, uses AI to guide learners through maths and science problems with voice interaction and a chest-mounted display screen
- The prototype was built by students from 6 schools after a six-month bootcamp funded by Maxzeeton Technology and supported by BICTDA
PAY ATTENTION: Find it fast with our new search feature at Legit.ng!
Secondary school pupils in Borno State have built a humanoid robot designed to teach children in communities where insecurity, displacement, and teacher shortages have long disrupted learning.
The robot, named "Max Zulum" in honour of Governor Babagana Umara Zulum, was unveiled on Tuesday, August 4, at the graduation ceremony of the "Empowering Ideas, Empowering Communities" Artificial Intelligence Bootcamp and Data-Analytics Fellowship in Maiduguri.
Source: Facebook
The event marked the end of a six-month programme backed by Maxzeeton Technology and the Borno State Information and Communication Technology Development Agency (BICTDA), Daily Trust reports.
Students from six schools across the state took part in the bootcamp, where they received training in coding, robotics, artificial intelligence, and data analytics before working together to build the prototype.
What the Robot Can Do
One of the student developers, Al-mustapha Kabir Matazu, described the robot as standing roughly 1.2 metres tall, fitted with a display screen on its chest and a speaker-microphone system that allows two-way voice interaction.
Powered by a custom AI engine, the robot can process spoken questions and reply with verbal explanations while showing step-by-step solutions on its screen. Its current focus is primary-level maths and science, and it adjusts its teaching pace based on how each learner responds.
"During the demo, we asked the robot 'How does it solve mathematical solutions?' and it walked us through the entire process, highlighting each step on the screen," Matazu said.
Fellow participant Fatima Abdulrahman, who won the bootcamp's innovation award, said the experience changed her view of what technology could achieve for her community.
"I now see a future where I can build tools that keep our children learning, even when classrooms are unsafe," she said.
Source: Facebook
The Problem the Robot Addresses
Borno State's education sector has been under severe strain for years. Data from the Federal Ministry of Education Annual School Census puts the average learner-to-teacher ratio in the state at 46 students per teacher, while UNICEF reports have previously cited ratios as high as 124 pupils per teacher in remote and conflict-affected primary schools.
The Managing Director of Maxzeeton Technology said the robot represents a practical response to that gap.
"After just six months of intensive training, our students have turned theory into a functional prototype that can support pupils both at home and in the classroom," he said. He added that the programme also formally enrolled 100 university graduates and young people into a new Data Analytics, AI, and Robotics Fellowship on the same day.
Engr Kabir Wanori, Executive Secretary of BICTDA, described Max Zulum as "the first of what we hope will be many locally-crafted solutions, not just for education but for agriculture, health and industry."
He said BICTDA would arrange further training for the student developers and connect them with the international community to give their work broader exposure.
2026 UTME: Father posts underage daughter's result
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that a proud father shared a screenshot of what his underage daughter scored in her 2026 UTME result, where she wrote science subjects.
The man shared the scores his daughter got in English, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, which were the subjects she wrote.
The total score she got in the JAMB examination caught the attention of many people, who reacted to it online and shared their observations about the underage candidate's score.
Source: Legit.ng
