At 15, Tinafi Akawu cannot see the world clearly, but he is building technology to help others navigate it. Born with congenital nystagmus — a condition in which the eyes move rapidly and uncontrollably — the teenager has developed multiple apps, including one that guides the blind and another that detects food poisoning. JANET OGUNDEPO writes
Fifteen years ago, when a neighbour visited Elizabeth Akawu, a Plateau State indigene, to congratulate her on the birth of her son, she made an unusual remark. The neighbour claimed that the one-week-old baby was “eyeing” her. The infant’s mother laughed off the comment. How could a week-old baby “eye” anyone, Elizabeth wondered.
But when she tried to make eye contact with her son, Tinafi, the unsettling truth became clear. The baby’s eyes would not follow her movements. There was no connection, no visual engagement that typically marks the early bond between mother and child.
“I didn’t take it as much of a problem initially. Later on, I made a complaint to my neighbour, who is an ophthalmologist, and he checked my son’s eyes and suggested we place him close to the light,” Elizabeth told PUNCH Healthwise.
The advice would prove disastrous as the Plateau State indigene later realised. She noted that the repeated exposure to light from the incandescent bulb worsened Tinafi’s condition.
Elizabeth stated that she then took her son to the hospital, and when he was two years old, the doctors diagnosed him with congenital nystagmus, a condition where the eyes make repetitive, uncontrolled movements, severely impairing vision.
“The doctor said his eye did not develop properly from the womb, and they said there was no cure for it,” Elizabeth recalled.
Despite the diagnosis, the Plateau State indigene refused to let her son’s visual impairment define his future. Elizabeth said Tinafi means, “We have given back to God.”
Early days
Tinafi’s early years defied expectations. While his mother feared his visual impairment would delay his development, Elizabeth said he walked at one year and five months, faster than his elder sister.
“That was my fear. I was afraid, and I thought it would be difficult for him to walk since he could not see. But he walked even faster than his elder sister,” she said.
The real challenge came when Tinafi started school. Before then, he had lived a carefree childhood, oblivious to his difference.
The teenager told PUNCH Healthwise, “When I was five and before I went to school, I just used to live a normal life. I didn’t really care that I had any visual impairment. It was only when I went to school that the impact got to hit me because when I go to class, some of the kids will be making fun of me and say, ‘Oh, look at this blind guy.’ And then I always ask myself, ” Am I actually blind?”
Tinafi told PUNCH Healthwise that his mother’s response to the other children’s jeers helped shape his worldview.
“My mum always used to tell me that I’m not blind. She would encourage me and say that I should never bother about these things. And honestly, that has really shaped who I actually have become as a person today.”
Elizabeth asserted that every child, disabled or not, comes “packed full” with talents, while the parents’ job is to discover and nurture those gifts.
From bullying to coding
Tinafi said that the introduction to technology began with childhood curiosity. At five, he would bombard his mother with questions such as, “How can someone make a call in Jos and it reaches someone in Lagos? How can you record something and play it back?
“I always ask those questions to my mum. And oftentimes, I’ll pick up her phone and just tap random things,” he said.
But his passion crystallised in Primary 4 when a computer teacher introduced him to programming. The teacher, who operated computers but did not code, became Tinafi’s inspiration.
“After computer class or any time I’m free, I would go to his office and ask him questions about different stuff and ask him to teach me. He told me about programming, and then I started to learn more about programming from there,” Tinafi recalled.
With a smartphone in hand, the teenager said he began watching tutorials, taking online courses, and teaching himself to code. His text-to-speech software read out everything on the screen while he learned the intricate logic of programming languages.
By secondary school, Tinafi said he had proposed something revolutionary to his school administration: he wanted to write his exams using a computer. The school agreed, allowing him to type his answers while his text-to-speech software read the questions aloud.
Born from personal struggle
Tinafi’s first major app, T-Vision, emerged from a moment of frustration and fear. One day in secondary school, he needed to get to class, but no one was available to guide him. His school’s large campus, dotted with drains and gutters, was treacherous terrain for someone with severely limited vision.
“I was just thinking to myself while going for the class, why not have an app that uses AI to just simply direct you and tell you when there are obstacles and what exactly to do instead of always actively relying on human help?” he explained.
T-Vision uses conversational artificial intelligence to guide visually impaired users. The app not only alerts users to obstacles and dangerous objects but also provides step-by-step navigation to their destination.
“The user can just talk to the app and say, ‘Hey, I want to go to such-and-such place.’ And then it will kindly notify me of any obstacles or dangerous objects in my path,” Tinafi said.
The app can also recognise text on billboards, describe faces, and provide spatial awareness. If a user photographs someone, T-Vision can later identify that person and describe their location: “John is nearby, right in front of you, six metres to your left.”
The teenager describes the app as “a social companion and a compass, a visual guide or a visual assistant that is right there to help the visually impaired.”
Surviving food poisoning
Tinafi said that his second innovation was born from a near-death experience when he was offered a meal. The next day and for several days after, Tinafi said he suffered severe diarrhoea and vomiting, with a diagnosis that he had food poisoning.
“It was basically just because of food poisoning. It was so severe that I almost lost my life at that time. So I thought to myself, people can’t be dying because people poisoned them,” he recalled.
The teenager said the experience sparked the creation of a food poisoning detector. He said the app uses a phone camera and a secondary device called an E-nose to analyse food.
“You just take a picture, click the scan button, it takes a picture and then captures it from that device. And then it will chemically analyse what is in the food and then tell you if that food has been poisoned and what exactly has poisoned the food, saving you before you eat the food,” he explained.
He said that the app is designed to prevent deaths from both accidental and deliberate poisoning.
Music and more
Beyond apps, Tinafi has recorded over 10 songs under the artist name Tinafi JAY. His latest release, “Dear God,” praises God’s creation. Another unreleased song, “New Names,” critiques how society renames wrongs to make them acceptable.
Music, his mother said, has been part of his life from infancy. She added, “He used to hum songs when he was a toddler. Sometimes when he is strapped to my back, he would hum and people close by would look around to see who was humming. And at that time, he was like a year old.”
Tinafi’s third app concept aims to simplify music production, acting as a virtual producer that corrects singers, creates beats, and offers inspiration.
His articulate speech and British-influenced accent, Tinafi said, come from listening to radio broadcasts, particularly BBC and local stations.
“When I was three, I had this passion. I loved to hear the Americans or the British speak on TV. There was this show called Kids Time, where they literally teach you how to pronounce words. I would be very attentive in listening to what exactly they were teaching,” he said.
Today, Elizabeth has become an advocate for parents of children with disabilities. She regularly receives comments from other parents who say they envy her, not wishing blindness on their children, but admiring what Tinafi has achieved.
“These children come packed full. They have everything. God has given them what it takes to have a life. If you don’t try to check and help them get their talents and push it, you have cheated them all through life, because they have to depend on people to eat, depend on people for money, depend on people to work, depend on people for everything,” she told PUNCH Healthwise.
She warns that a life of dependency creates stress and robs children of dignity. Elizabeth advised, “Check your child. There is something that has come with him. And if you are able to realise it, you will be happy that you have such a child.”
Raising Tinafi as a single mother has not been easy, as the Plateau State indigene stated that financial constraints forced them to stop treatment for the teenager.
“All these examinations were just money,” Elizabeth said. Thankful that they were able to recently return to the hospital for fresh examinations, but results are still pending.
Despite the challenges, Tinafi thrives. His mother describes him as “the light of the house,” someone who cannot be intimidated by his impairment.
“He is this person who cannot be intimidated, even with the fact that he has this impairment. He has been so inquisitive since childhood. He does a lot of research. He does a lot of things that push him ahead of his peers. Most of his friends are even adults because when they come, they get comfortable talking with him,” she said.
Looking ahead
At 15, Tinafi Akawu represents a new generation of young Nigerians who refuse to be defined by their limitations. Born with eyes that cannot see clearly, he has chosen instead to help others see better, navigate more safely, and live healthier.
Tinafi said his apps are currently in the patent process, and he maintains detailed concept notes and date logs to protect his intellectual property while the legal work progresses.
His advice to other young people with visual impairments is simple but powerful: “They should not give up. They should chase their dreams. They should follow their passions, as they never know where exactly their passions could take them. The sky could just be their starting point.”
For parents, his message is equally direct: “They should try to support their children in whatever passion or dreams they might have. They should just try to support them and encourage them to succeed.”
To Nigerian youth generally, he says, “Youth in Nigeria should try to get a skill. The future is going digital. And if the youth don’t have any digital skills, they will be left behind. The future is AI.”
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