Acting President of the African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Prof. Azikiwe Onwualu, has disclosed that the university and its partners developed two applications that will help security agencies in tracking kidnappers and curb the menace of ‘One chance’ in the country.

Onwualu stated this during a pre- event press conference of the inaugural edition of the national conference on Science Technology and Innovation Communications (STICOMS) holding between October 21 and 23, 2025, in Abuja.

The academic said they partnered people in the private sector with ideas on the solutions but need the technology to develop them.

He added, “We have a partner now who is developing an app for dealing with kidnapping which I know the military and security agencies will be interested in. But this is a private sector organisation. We just signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with them.

“They have the idea but they don’t have the capacity in terms of putting the technology together and that is how we are partnering. I believe in the next couple of weeks or months, you will hear about this technology. 

“We just filed patent that will be between us and then the product will be in the market. I’ve said this in another forum; there’s no reason why somebody can kidnap somebody in this country and the person is demanding ransom with a phone and we cannot track it. 

“So it’s a system that is available. I can give you another example; the issue of “One chance.” I think that’s what we call it. We now have a product that we are working on commercialising now., where you can scan a barcode or something by the side of the car and you will know everything about the car.

“Then, if you choose to enter, and if you don’t have that barcode on your taxi, you don’t have to be on the road. And you can send your movement to a friend or loved one too.”

Onwualu also disclosed that AUST has registered ten patents in the last one year which are about to be commercialised. 

“In the last one year, we registered about 10 patents, and we are currently working on those patents to commercialise the results of those research,” he said.

The Chairman, Local Organising Committee (LOC) for STICOMS 2025, Dr. Bosco Okolo-Obi, who read the text of the press conference noted that, science, technology and innovation are universally acknowledged as the engines of economic growth and social progress. 

“Around the world, nations that have embraced science-driven development are leading in health, agriculture, energy, digital transformation and industrialisation.

“In terms of research output, Nigeria is not left behind. Our universities and research institutes continue to produce groundbreaking research findings. 

“However, many of these discoveries are locked away in technical journals, inaccessible to industries, policy makers and indeed the citizens who need them the most.”

“This communication gap has limited the impact of our scientific and national advancement,” he added.