Students in Tech: How UNILAG Undergraduates Are Building Startups Before Graduation

By Sophie Ajaraonye, Emeribe Amarachi, Jacinta Emeka, Oyinnijesu Omope, Happy Ajuebon and Ojiolu Akhere 

Across the campus of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), a quiet shift is underway. Beyond lectures and assignments, some students are using their time in school to test ideas, build products, and solve everyday problems with technology. For them, university life is not only about earning degrees, but about building solutions.

Innovation at UNILAG is no longer confined to classrooms. Students across faculties are founding startups that respond to real needs, often shaped by personal experiences. Barnabas Peter, a 300-level Finance student, is the founder of Travaye, a digital platform that helps tourists and low-income earners discover affordable leisure destinations. His idea emerged as the top project at UNILAG’s I2M Accelerated Incubator Programme, showing how technology can make exploration more accessible.

Ikechukwu Mbadiwe, a final-year Financial Accounting student, took a more utility-focused route. After facing repeated challenges with data purchases and bill payments, he founded Otapay, a platform designed to make airtime, data, and utility payments more affordable while allowing agents to earn commissions. His solution reflects a practical response to a problem many Nigerians encounter daily.

Food security is the focus of Tomiwa Olayemi, a 400-level student of Actuarial Science and founder of The-Father Chow. His venture provides nutritious meals at affordable prices and earned first place at UNILAG’s BITE 2.0 competition, selected from over 200 entries. For Olayemi, innovation began with a basic question: how can food be made more accessible to students and low-income earners?

In a more technical space, Saheed Azeez, a final-year Mechanical Engineering student, is contributing to artificial intelligence research through Naijaweb, a dataset of over 230 million GPT-2 tokens scraped from Nairaland. While many student founders focus on consumer-facing products, Azeez works behind the scenes, building foundational resources for AI models tailored to Nigerian contexts.

Balancing startup life with academics is not without challenges. Power outages, unstable internet, limited funding, and academic pressure are constant obstacles.

 “There are days I have tests and still need to meet project deadlines,” Azeez said. 

“Sometimes it feels overwhelming.”

Despite these constraints, student tech communities on campus provide support. Groups such as developer hubs and design collectives offer mentorship, collaboration, and exposure to opportunities beyond the classroom. Aishat Sanusi, a UI/UX designer and member of a campus tech community, believes shared ambition makes the difference. 

“Being around people who share the same goals pushes you to do more,” she said.

For many of these students, technology represents more than innovation. It represents security, relevance, and a future beyond certificates. As Nigeria’s tech sector continues to expand, the foundations of tomorrow’s companies are already being laid in lecture halls, hostels, and shared workspaces at UNILAG.

At UNILAG, innovation is not waiting for graduation. It is already happening.