News

Nigerian Student, Others Develop Medical App For Diagnosis

Published

3 years ago

April 20, 2023

Nigerian students in different parts of the world keep making impressive strides in different disciplines.

Couple of weeks ago, Tony Okeke, 20, who was the winner of the 2018 edition of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, National Science Quiz and presently studying Biomedical Engineering in Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, collaborated with five other international students (four Nigerians and one Indian) to develop an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Medical Assistance App, which they named ‘Meddibia’.

Okeke’s team, named, ‘Team Meddibia’, comprises Okeke, Dishika Goel, Elochukwu Enwerem, Dalu Okonkwo, Michael Moemeke and Victor Uzo.

The team’s project, ‘Meddibia’, was one of the ten AI projects that won at the Philly Codefest 2023, a contest that took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA during the 10th year of the software and hardware hackathon hosted by College of Computing & Informatics, Drexel University, Philadelphia.

Explaining how difficult it was for the panel of judges ot determine the winners, Dave Raiken, Assistant Director of Operations, said the 46 teams that took part, presented great technical projects that aligned with the theme: AI Everywhere— that is, “real-world, scalable software and hardware solutions to improve and expand artificial intelligence’s positive societal impacts.”

Presenting their project on behalf of his team, Okeke explained: “The inspiration behind our latest project came from a deep desire to improve the accessibility of medical care for people living in rural areas.

“As developers from third-world countries, we understood all too well the struggles faced by those who lack access to proper medical facilities.

“Our team wanted to create a solution that would bridge the gap between these individuals and medical professionals, so we set out to create an app that would allow users to receive medical advice and diagnoses using machine learning models.”

What it does

Meddibia is a personal AI health assistant that puts greater control over health in the hands of users living in rural communities. With it, users can describe their symptoms to a chat assistant and receive a likely diagnosis, along with more information about their diagnosis and symptoms.

Additionally, it enables users to get diagnosis for skin conditions and aberrations by simply taking a picture of the affected area. This feature is especially important for those with limited access to healthcare professionals or specialized facilities. By providing personalized care and making it easier to manage health conditions, Meddibia empowers users to take control of their health and improve their quality of life.

How it was built

To accurately identify skin conditions, the team experimented with various pre-trained models, including VGG16 and EfficientNet, to extract features from images from the dermnet dataset.

They then trained and evaluated deep neural network classifiers, ultimately selecting a model with approximately 70% accuracy. For symptom identification, they employed GPT-3, a state-of-the-art language model, to preprocess natural language input from users into symptom labels, which served as input to our machine-learning model.

This approach resulted in about 87% accuracy in predicting disease labels. To further assist users, and used GPT-3 to provide helpful descriptions of the predicted disease. The app’s backend was built using Flask API and deployed on Heroku, while the cross-platform frontend was developed using Flutter, making our app easily accessible to users across multiple devices.

News

Migration Agency Warns Migrants Against Irregular Travel Routes

Published

2 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), in collaboration with Giving is Healing Foundation, has sensitised residents of Ayobo in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State on the dangers of irregular migration and the need to embrace legal travel procedures.

Speaking during a sensitisation programme held at Megida Ifelodu Community Development Association in Ayobo, the founder of Giving is Healing Foundation, Mr. Gbolahan Ayediran, warned intending migrants against using illegal travel routes.

Ayediran said many Nigerians desire to migrate abroad in search of better opportunities but often ignore proper procedures, thereby exposing themselves to several dangers.

“Lots of people want to migrate and most of them do it in the wrong direction. The reason for the programme is for us to advise people on how they can migrate in the right way. As much as migration is their right, they should do it correctly,” he said.

He advised intending travellers to obtain the necessary travel documents before embarking on any journey, noting that such documents include international passports, visas, flight tickets and yellow cards, depending on the destination country.

According to him, migrants should also gather adequate information about their destination countries to enable them make informed decisions before travelling.

Ayediran further highlighted some of the dangers associated with irregular migration, including abuse, exploitation, discrimination and forced labour.

Also speaking, the Chairman of Megida Ifelodu Community Development Association, Elder Mathews Amusan, commended the organisers for enlightening members of the community on safe migration practices.

He urged residents planning to travel abroad to always follow legal migration procedures to avoid falling victim to human trafficking and other migration-related challenges.

One of the participants, Mr. Kolawole Adenoko, said the programme enlightened him on the dangers of irregular migration and the importance of travelling through the proper channels.

He added that he would also educate his relatives and friends on the risks associated with illegal migration.

News

Shatta Wale Bailed Burna Boy From Ghana Prison After Arrest For Smoking Weed – Captan

Published

5 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

Ghanian singer, Captan, has claimed that his former record label boss, Shatta Wale, once bailed Nigerian singer Burna Boy out of prison in Ghana after he was allegedly arrested for smoking weed.

Speaking in a recent podcast interview, Captan claimed that Shatta Wale sent him and others to free Burna Boy from police custody.

He also claimed that Shatta Wale and his group once accommodated Burna Boy when he was being hunted by some dangerous men.

Captan said, “I once bailed Burna Boy out of prison in Ghana when he was arrested for smoking weed. Shatta Wale sent me and some guys to go and free him from police custody.

“There was a time we also accommodated him when some people were after his life. We helped him settle the case.”

He added that he and Burna Boy are no longer in good terms after the Nigerian artist’s fallout with his mentor, Shatta Wale.

He, however, said he and Shatta Wale are open to reconciling with Burna Boy if he asks for it.

Watch the video here

News

Children’s Day: Chaos At Ogbe Stadium As Dozens Faint

Published

20 hours ago

May 27, 2026

Editor

Chaos erupted on Wednesday during the Children’s Day celebration as dozens of students reportedly collapsed following a stampede triggered by the use of pepper spray.

The event,
organised by the Edo State Ministry of Education at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium was disrupted after some male students of Ihogbe College allegedly made uncompromising advances towards female students at the venue.
‎
‎ A parent who identified himself as Oboh Emmanuel said, “the behaviour of those uncultured students attracted the attention of bouncers stationed at the stadium as they rebuked the male students.”
‎
‎Oboh said the affected students later regrouped and attacked the bouncers, leading to a confrontation within the crowded arena.

READ ALSO:Children’s Day: Edo Commits To Child Protection
‎
It was gathered that in the ensuing confusion, the bouncers were reported to have deployed pepper spray in an area occupied by a large number of students.
‎
‎Several students, particularly female students, reportedly fainted after inhaling the substance, while others sustained injuries after being stepped on during the ensuing melee.
‎
‎The panic was said to have spread across the stadium as students, teachers and parents scampered for safety.
‎
‎Many of the affected students were reportedly rushed to the Edo Specialist Hospital for medical attention.

Reacting to the incident, Chief Press Secretary to Governor Monday Okpebholo, Dr Patrick Ebojele, said the security personnel that fired the tear gas had been detained.

He said all the students, except two, that were rushed to the hospital have been discharged.

Ebojele stated that doctors wanted to observe the students till tomorrow before allowing them to go home.

“The two students are not seriously injured. Doctors want to observe them overnight. Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education is still at the hospital. The man who used pepper spray has been detained.

“The incident did not happen the way it is being exaggerated. All modalities were put in place to ensure the children enjoyed their day.”
‎