Four secondary school students from Caro Favoured Schools, Ajegunle, a remote area of Lagos State have produced mobile solar traffic lights to ease off traffic congestion on our roads.

By this, the SS3 students, Blessing Omosebi, Sarah Onabanjo, Uchechukwu Fredricks and Emmanuel Anyanwu have written their names among achievers.

The quartet, three girls and one boy said the inspiration to produce the device was borne out of the incessant traffic congestion experienced by motorists and commuters while going and coming from school.

According to them, after they conceived the idea, there was practically nothing they could do to actualised their dream until they heard about the Junior Achievers of Nigeria. JAN is a non-governmental organisation saddled with the vision of empowering students with ideas on how they can be useful to themselves and the community. Part of the functions of JAN, they noted was to financially empower the youth with ideas and also assist financially where necessary.

They said: “Having enrolled with JAN, the organisation was able to disclose how we could generate and effectively manage wealth and create jobs for our communities. To our amazement, we were taught how to apply entrepreneurial thinking to the workplace and the necessary skills in securing our financial future.”

Speaking with Vanguard in Lagos, Emmanuel Anyanwu said: “The problem of Africa is summed up by one word, transportation. Many people all over the world are looking for how the problem of transportation could be removed. That was why we created mobile traffic light to ease off traffic and allow our society to be more proactive.”

Lamenting the untold hardship traffic congestion could bring to road users, she asked: “How would you feel if you spend five hours on one hour journey all in the name of traffic congestion.

“How would you feel also if you hear that your child was involved in an accident all because of reckless driving? These problems could be solved with functional traffic light.

“Our product is powered by solar energy, such that it does not need electricity supply to function. Once there is sunlight, our product stores its energy which could serve the users for days depending on the usage.

“After the creation of the device, we had contested with our fellow JAN in Africa Continent and came first.

We are also looking forward to when we shall contest with other JAN globally. JAN which started in the United States of America is 100 years old, while in Nigeria we are just 20 years today.’’

Meanwhile, the Executive Director of JAN, Simi Nwogugu who spoke during the unveiling of the product and announcing its 20th Anniversary decried the uncertain future of our youth. She said: “every year, over one million would-be university students enter the workforce without tertiary education or appropriate training.

“The inability of many young men and women to obtain the requisite STEM skills that are in high demand has rendered them unattractive to the 21st-century employer.

“This is why some of our programmes will focus on digital to unlock its potential for the benefit of the country.

“We are more committed than ever to our mission of ensuring our youth have the values, skills and confidence to secure their financial future.”

•Sourced from The Vanguard report

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