How Nigerian Highschool graduate is solving farmer-herder conflicts using e-waste

Mr. Luka Zang Bot, the young Nigerian who recently won the 2019 national Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises award for Technology and Innovation might be working a final solution to Nigeria’s farmer-herder conflicts.

Zang has locally developed a high capacity power bank from electronic waste as “a solution to energy and environmental crises causing insecurity in local communities”.

First designed with one 5V/1A power input and 5V/1A output, the 13,000mAh capacity power banks made by Zang Technologies Nig. Ltd now come with Intelligent Digital Display, dual USB and sleek, portable, night black designs.

Security operatives and local communities at risk of attacks could rely on them to power their communication devices and share relevant information when in need, Mr. Zang told MKB.

“Over 8000 Nigerian villages are without electricity. Even those that have it hardly get stable supply. This affects their ability to share information when there are threats.

“Same thing applies to security operatives keeping peace in such villages.

“They have communication gadgets used to communicate with communities and their bases which if not charged cannot function.

“This generally makes it hard to solve security problems in local communities because information sharing is crucial to security response and rumor prevention,” he said.

Recycling electronic wastes to make the power banks according to him also helps rid toxic substances that increase global warming, which experts blame for the shrinking agricultural land globally.

Zang said, “Nigeria is a renowned dumping ground for electronic wastes which harm the environment and increase competition for agricultural land.

“This in turn causes the conflicts we are witnessing between farmers and herdsmen.

“But with this innovation, we believe waste will be reduced, the ozone layer will be safe and desertification, erosion and other disasters caused by global warming will also disappear, thereby making land sufficiently available for crop and animal production.”

Zang, not only makes power banks from e-waste but also computer foot mouse, which won him the national award held on August 2, 2019 at the presidential villa, Abuja.

He has also invented a sand sieving machine, and is currently developing an automatic candle light control device.

All the products are made in Jos, Plateau State under the Zang Technologies trademark.

Zang however only holds a highschool certificate, with a Diploma in Computer Science which he obtained from a vocational school.

While in Highschool, Zang was poor with theories and could not earn the required grades for a Science major.

He therefore majored in Social Sciences but studied sciences on his own, concentrating more on practicals.

Despite repeatedly failing final year exams, thus missing university admission, Zang has remained firm in science and technological research and exploration, an effort that has earned him at least three national awards so far.