Unilorin lecturer fabricates pencil making machine from waste papers, graphite

By Adebayo Olodan

A Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ilorin, Dr. Habeeb Ajimotokan, has fabricated a machine capable of producing different shapes of pencils in commercial quantities.
The raw materials for the pencil itself were said to have been gotten from waste papers and graphite.
Speaking with our reporter last night, Dr Ajimotokan said, “It was not that he discovered the machine but domestication of the idea to produce a local one using available technology that are is being used in other parts of the world that we don’t have here in Nigeria.”
According to the University of Ilorin bulletin, the machine was fabricated from locally-sourced off-the-shelf materials.
The report stated that the machine had been tested and found capable of producing 400 pencils in one hour.
The publication described Ajimotokan as a specialist in Mechanical Process and Energy Engineering.
It stated that the inventor and his team were currently working on producing eraser-fitting and pencil-end-cutter, which would make the local production of pencils a resounding reality and for which a patent would be sought thereafter.
It further noted that the initial pencils produced through the machine “could only be sharpened with razor blade, a situation which compelled Ajimotokan and his team to go back to the drawing board. This culminated in the production of a normal pencil comparable with the imported ones in every parameter.
Speaking further, Ajimotokan said, “Pencil-making is not only cheap but can provide job opportunities for many unemployed Nigerian youths,” adding that he was propelled to work on the domestication of the pencil-making machine in order to reduce the hard currency being expended on importation of that essential material for the nation’s education sector.
He however commended the enterprising disposition of the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Sulyman Age Abdulkareem, and his management team for encouraging productivity and ingenuity among staff and students of the institution.
It particularly commended Abdulkareem for his personal encouragement.
It noted that Ajimotokan commenced the processes which led to the re-modification of the machine when the Vice Chancellor was the Director of the University’s Laboratory to Products Unit, based on the advice he was offered by the Unit.
The inventor however lamented that paucity of funds impeded the speed at which he intended to produce the machine.
Ajimotokan therefore called on affluent entrepreneurs to collaborate with the university in producing the machine in large quantities.
The bulletin noted that this was because its economic value could not be overemphasised considering the number of end users of the product.
It said it was important for governments at various levels to encourage scientific and technological innovations through favourable public policies and adequate funding of research.