By Steve Oko

UMUAHIA – A National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, member serving at Ibeku High School, Umuahia, Abia State, Kenneth Nweke, has developed a digital fire emergency-response application, digitised key operations of the school and established an ICT club that has produced student developers.

Nweke, a Computer Science graduate of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, MOUAU, unveiled the innovations at the school, alongside 12 whiteboards he provided for classrooms to replace concrete blackboards that required the use of chalk.

He said the initiatives were inspired by challenges he encountered after resuming at the school in January 2026, including the health concerns associated with chalk dust and the largely paper-based administration of the school.

The school website, according to him, was specifically designed after consultations with teachers and the ICT department to address the institution’s needs.

He said the portal allows students to check and print their results using their admission numbers, while prospective students can make admission enquiries online.

The website also provides the school timetable, opening and visiting hours, official contact details and a results portal that automatically computes scores, averages and rankings.

Nweke, however, said the platform was awaiting final approval from the Ministry of Education before official school data could be deployed on it.

He said he also established the MorningStar ICT Club to expose students to artificial intelligence, automation, web development and software and mobile application development.

Nweke who hails from Ngor -Okpala in Imo State, said the FireHawks application emerged from his experience as President of the NYSC Fire Disaster Awareness, Prevention and Sensitisation CDS group, where he encountered difficulties citizens faced in reporting fire incidents.

He explained that the app’s panic button captures the user’s GPS location and transmits the coordinates to a fire service control room, while its water-hydrant mapping feature is designed to help identify nearby water sources during emergencies.

The application also contains a fire-safety audit tool and an AI-assisted suppression guide which can help users identify different classes of fire and determine appropriate ways of containing them.

Nweke said the application was built with an “offline-first” architecture, allowing reports to be stored when there is no network and transmitted once connectivity is restored.

A representative of the Federal Fire Service Training School, Abia State, DF Henry Ndidiamaka Anele, described FireHawks as “an incredible app”, particularly praising its one-tap GPS feature.

Anele said firefighters sometimes lose valuable time locating incident addresses, but the application’s integration with Google Maps could enable them to track and navigate directly to the scene.

He also commended its user-friendly interface, emergency hotline feature and fire-suppression guide, but said the application needed further development and scaling before widespread deployment.

Meanwhile, students of the MorningStar ICT Club groomed by Nweke, demonstrated the Abia Green civic-technology platform developed under Nweke’s supervision.

One of the student developers, Precious Daniel, said the platform was designed around three interfaces — citizen, driver and government administration — to improve public transport information, environmental reporting and citizen participation.

During the demonstration, the students including Destiny Agu, showed how users could view active electric-bus routes and track buses through live GPS mapping.

Nweke said the idea emerged from the students’ concern that commuters had no reliable means of knowing when the state’s electric buses would arrive at designated stops.

He said the project, initially developed for a STEM workshop, attracted the attention of the Commissioner for Science and Technology and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Youth and Sports, Raymond Chima Okwa, who subsequently invited the students for further discussions.

He said the project had reached its final phase and would be presented to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, with the possibility of integration into the state’s citizen engagement system.

The Corps member disclosed that some of the resources for the 12 whiteboards were secured through the school’s alumni network, including two alumni based in the United Kingdom.

The NYSC Coordinator in Abia State, Yunusa Tanimu, commended Nweke’s initiatives as a practical demonstration of the Community Development Service component of the NYSC scheme.

Tanimu urged corps members to identify challenges in their host communities and work with residents and stakeholders to develop sustainable solutions, stressing that community development should not be left entirely to government.

He appealed to philanthropists, political and traditional leaders and other stakeholders to support corps members with innovative projects.

“The question is, what will I be remembered for? Kenneth has played his part. He has written his name and engraved it in the sand of time,” Tanimu said.

The NYSC coordinator also urged students to take their studies seriously, noting that the future of Abia and Nigeria rested on the quality of education provided to them.

The Principal of the Senior Secondary section of the school, Elder Obioma Udemba, described Nweke’s contribution as “immeasurable”, particularly his efforts in digital education and student mentorship.

Udemba said Nweke had led students to competitions in Port Harcourt and Abuja, adding that three students recently returned from Abuja and that one had received an opportunity to represent Nigeria in the United Kingdom.

He said the school was taking steps to sustain the ICT initiatives after Nweke’s service, noting that teachers and students had already been exposed to the knowledge while an ICT teacher was also expected to be posted to the school.

Udemba said the school’s computer laboratory, internet facilities and trained personnel would provide a foundation for continuing the digital programmes.

He commended the NYSC scheme for exposing young Nigerians to opportunities to contribute meaningfully to communities outside their home states.