A locally-fabricated hand-free washing machine has been invented by a young technician in Akwa Ibom State for regular washing of hands at homes, offices and other public places as part of measures to contain the spread of corona virus in the State.
The fabrication of the machine was sponsored by the Akwa Ibom State Roads and Other Infrastructure Maintenance Agency (AKROIMA), agency saddled with the responsibility of repairing roads in the State.
Contrary to other hand washing machines that required users operating it with the hand to turn on the tap, the newly invented hand-free washing machine is propelled with leg which is already protected by shoe.
The Chairman of AKROIMA, Prince Godwin Ntuk Udeh said the production of the locally designed hand-free washing machine was borne out of the desire to minimise the spread of the corona virus.
Speaking on Wednesday in Uyo, Udeh said he observed that many of the hand washing equipment were not hand-free and so it defeated the purpose of hand washing, as users will have to touch the surface of the equipment by opening the tap for flow of water to wash their hands, touch again after washing their hands to turn off water.
He explained that the locally designed machine sponsored by the AKROIMA made no room for users touching the device again with their hands as it comes with a leg controlled mechanism used to regulate the flow of water.
He said the hand-free washing machine has storage capacity for draining out the dirty water without anyone touching it, adding that the materials used for the production of the machine were sourced locally.
He stated that sponsoring the initial production of 10 hand-free washing machines was done to support the efforts of Governor Udom Emmanuel in fighting the spread of the disease.
“The emphasis of this pandemic is that we should look inward. Till now, the medical scientists have not come up with a vaccine or methodology of thrashing off the pandemic.
“It means that our indigenous persons should look inwards and come up with medicine, equipment, advocacy or whatever that is locally produced which can help to combat the pandemic.
“This is what informed the Board of this Agency which during the course of our deliberations, we had a young technician who gave us the idea of what he could come up with looking at the current reality which stresses the need for regular hands washing.
“We were criticizing the aspect of turning on water tap with your hand to wash your hand, clean it up and then go again, and turn off the water. That contact and re-contact is another way of re-establishing contact with a system that can make you re-infected.
“The young man came up with the discussion on what he can do to solve the problem in another way, and we were excited. We encouraged him to start something, he started and we criticized it, made corrections.
“After three times of correction on what he brought, he finally came up with what we can describe as an indigenous innovation. The emphasis of corona virus is that we must look inwards. There are herbs, roots, and other medicines that are available in our local environment, that if applied we can completely combat corona virus.
“Lack of appreciating what we have is the only reason we would ignore the local recipe towards fighting COVID-19. For us, appointees of government, we have already agreed to contribute part of our salary voluntarily and happily.
“When we came to the conclusion that this device can serve the purpose especially in the rural areas, because it is operated manually without the need for electricity, we decided that it was right to support the young technician to produce the device which also has the provision for electricity to operate it.
“Since we know that power supply is our challenge, we said it should be mainly operated using the leg. The leg is with a shoe and already protected, so just by a soft touch, the water comes out and you wash your hands. There is a spot to place your sanitizer, the soap and the serviette.
“When the water comes out, it does not k on the ground because there is a storage facility in the system where the waste water is stored to be pulled out and thrown away,” he stated.
He thanked members of the AKROIMA Board who rose in unison to support and encourage the indigenous technologist on the innovation of the device, and lauded the manufacturer for heeding the advice of the Board, which he said resulted in the innovation.
Also speaking, the inventor of the hand free washing machines, Mr. Aniekan Onomkpöinam said the innovation was borne out of his desire to check the exposure of people to the risk of contracting the disease while washing their hands especially outside their homes.
He praised AKROIMA for supporting him and sharpening his ideas to invent the device, noting that the hands-free washing machine has the facility to store soap, hand-sanitizer and dispose water without using the hands to touch the device.
He said, “Every time I went to people’s homes or offices to see people open the tap to wash their hands with the usual pails, I thought about the possibility of still contracting the deadly COVID-19 pandemic because different people touch the tap at different times. So I came up with the idea of inventing the hands-free hand-washing machine”.
