Jesutofunmi Oniyide, a final-year Mechatronics Engineering student at the University of Lagos, has won the Red Bull Basement Nigeria competition with his AI-powered livestock monitoring device, Vital-Tag.

Selected from over 3,000 entrants, his innovation stood out for addressing a critical agricultural challenge, livestock losses due to undetected illness, earning praise from judges including Odunayo Eweniyi and Mercy Thadeus.

The global program, Red Bull Basement, supports student founders in turning ideas into real-world solutions through mentorship and exposure.

Vital-Tag is an Internet of Things (IoT) device designed to be worn by livestock, continuously tracking key health indicators such as temperature, heart rate, and jaw movement.

Data is transmitted to farmers via SMS, enabling early detection of illness before visible symptoms appear. The system relies on establishing individual animal baselines to identify meaningful deviations, improving accuracy while reducing false alerts caused by stress or environmental changes.

A standout feature of Vital-Tag is its reported ability to operate for up to three years without recharging, powered by a low-energy industrial-grade battery system optimized for long-term IoT use.

While performance depends heavily on transmission frequency and environmental conditions, the design reflects a growing trend in low-maintenance agricultural technology aimed at rural adoption.

The competition also spotlighted other innovations, including Navidyne’s AI-powered underwater robots for detecting oil pipeline leaks and Liferoute AI’s ambulance navigation system designed to reduce emergency response delays.

Together, these projects highlight a rising wave of Nigerian student-led innovation tackling real-world challenges across agriculture, healthcare, and energy infrastructure—supported by increasing access to funding opportunities, including government-backed grants of up to ₦50 million for young entrepreneurs.