Meet 25-year-old Oluwasegun, brains behind bird feather-removing machine

25-year-old Akanbi Oluwasegun, a native of Ibadan is a simple, down to earth and unassuming young man, who like many others dreams big, even when it seems there’s no hope of a better tomorrow. But unlike many of his peers, he doesn’t only dream, he plans and works towards taking himself out of the dungeon of helplessness and mediocrity.

After his secondary education, he worked at diverse odd jobs; as a carpenter and as an electrical intern where he picked the prerequisite knowledge to create an innovative machine that helps to remove the feathers of a whole chicken in just a minute.

Oluwasegun’s innovation can actually be considered as a great feat in technology especially coming from a man that had no academic background in engineering.

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It is even more laudable considering it came at a period that Nigeria is believed to have gone backwards in technology while countries like China and South Korea have been able to make great strides in science, technology and innovation and at the same time grow their economies. It is indeed a relief to many that some young Nigerians are using their brains to bring about great innovations which if supported, could create great landmark for Nigeria in science and technology.

And as Asian countries like China and Korea encourage their youths to pursue aggressively initiatives in research and development in science and engineering, some Nigerian youths  like Oluwasegun, have on their own made efforts to pursue their dreams with little or no support and have made innovations worthy of accolades.

Oluwasegun didn’t have a smooth ride. After he completed his secondary school education some years back, there was nothing he could do because furthering his education at that period was a tall dream. So he did menial jobs in various factories and picked knowledge on the job till he could stand on his own and fend for himself. But this wasn’t the end of his trouble like he believed because he ended up working for people who didn’t pay him.

“When I started working on my own, the challenge changed. I was an electrician for a period of time but then, I realized that those I worked for would owe me or pay a fraction of what I asked after doing the job. It was frustrating that I stopped accepting jobs to avoid being owed as I was only working and getting nothing for my efforts.

“But as time went on, the challenge changed; I couldn’t afford my needs and jobs had stopped coming up. So, I sat to think of what I could do with my hands that would bring immediate cash and I could just do and move on. So I decided to be killing chicken for those that buy at the chicken market. But this was also not as easy because I didn’t like removing feathers, it was for me a herculean task,” Oluwasegun told Nigerian Tribune.

How then would he survive in his new business when he didn’t like the major aspect of the job? Oluwasegun simply defied the odds and shunned the lack of support to create a machine that can make work faster for him and other people in his line of business – the feather removing machine. The machine is not only useful for him but also for people in the food processing industry, especially those that process poultry products.

“I had to think fast on how to make things work and make that job easier. I had some devices that I had from my previous work experience. So, I had to imagine what could make the new job easy for me. My goal was to make sure my method was different from those in this business and also faster and comfortable. I kept ruminating on what unique method I could use to solve the problem of pulling off feathers from poultry birds.

“And because I needed a solution fast to start the business, I couldn’t keep wasting time so I swung into action. This is the inspiration behind creating the machine. At present, I have one that can remove feathers of a bird at a time and a bigger one that can remove feathers on five birds together in one minute because it spins fast and uses electricity,” he stated.

Making his dream a reality was however not a child’s play. “It wasn’t easy at all. There was no support nor was there much encouragement. At a point, my mother was annoyed and frustrated that I was wasting the little resources that I should use to cater for myself. I didn’t also get it right the first time, I did it thrice consecutively before I got it right. It was over a period of three months that I finally got it.

“Though it’s not in the best shape yet because there’s a need to fine-tune it to make it beautiful, it’s really functional and effective. For now, it is still a small machine. Soon, it will be bigger and no one will have to get stains or stress in processing chicken.  It is so capital-intensive; the small one costs N80,000 to produce and N120,000 to produce the big one. I have tried all I could to get sponsors but none is forthcoming. I am happy because I achieved my dream, if not completely to a certain extent and I’m not giving up.

“I just got admitted to the Yaba College of Technology to study Mechatronics Engineering and I’m so happy at this development. This innovation has opened my eyes to the fact that there’s no limitation if one believes and is consistent,” Oluwasegun stated.

He identified lack of support and finance as the bane of technological advancement in Nigeria and advocated for more investments in research and innovations.

“If there is support for efforts like this, I am sure many youths will come up with unbelievable innovations that will make the country proud,” he said.

And as he commences a new journey as an undergraduate, the young engineer has vowed that he will come up with better innovations aided by technological knowledge, adding that, “with education, I know I will be better as I will have exposure to new ways of doing things.”