Students of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, have distinguished themselves on the global stage by winning two grand prizes at the 10th Huawei ICT Skills Competition Global Finals, held in Shenzhen, China. The global finals took place from June 2 to June 5, 2026, featuring competitions in network, cloud, computing, and AI/innovation tracks. A total of 177 teams from 40 countries participated in the finals.
ABU Team Achievements
According to a statement by the university’s Director of Public Affairs, Mallam Awwalu Umar, the ABU team received two grand prizes at the award ceremony in Shenzhen on June 5, 2026 — first position in cloud and second position in computing. He added that three of the students from “TeamABU2026” also received the “Women in Tech” award alongside the Nigeria Network Team.
Competition Journey
Umar recalled that the competition began in October 2025, attracting over 220,000 students globally. Following rigorous national finals in December 2025 and the Southern Africa regional finals in March 2026, the ABU team qualified for the global stage. He explained that the network, cloud, and computing finals featured an eight-hour laboratory simulation requiring participants to solve real-world ICT challenges, held on June 2, 2026. The AI/innovation final took place on June 3, 2026, and was described as a major highlight of the competition, challenging participants to design and develop AI-based solutions using Huawei technologies.
Winning AI Project: ParaVision
ABU’s winning AI entry, “ParaVision,” earned the team a grand prize in the innovation category. The project is an AI-powered system built on Orange Pi AIPro, based on the Huawei Ascend 310B4 chip. According to the statement, ParaVision can perform dual or simultaneous testing functions and generate printed laboratory reports in under three minutes. It also features a multilingual interface, including French, Arabic, Chinese, and Swahili.
Winning Team Members
The students on the winning team include Kumba-Banna Tekanyi (Computer Engineering), Yakubu Musa Yakubu (Computer Science), Adekunle Abdulroqeeb Oladimeji (Electrical Engineering), Wakili Sefiu Bolaji (Computer Engineering), Yunus Muhammad (Electronics & Telecom Engineering), Ruqayyah Hassan Labo (Electronics & Telecom Engineering), Khadija Khalid (Computer Engineering), and Grace Temitayo Olorunfemi (Computer Engineering). They competed under the guidance of two technical instructors: Dr. Bashir Halliru Sani (IAIICT) and Dr. Zaharaddeen Haruna (Computer Engineering).
University Officials Present
The Vice-Chancellor of ABU, Prof. Adamu Ahmed, attended the event along with the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Prof. Raymond B. Bako. Other university officials present included the Director of the Distance Learning Centre, Prof. Muhammad Bashir Mu’azu, and the Director of IAIICT, Prof. Emmanuel Adewale Adedokun.
