…Abia Govt Assures of Support
Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Nigeria’s quest for digital innovation has recorded a major milestone as an Abia-born undergraduate of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Master Obinna Chimdi, developed ChatATP — an app capable of turning any website into an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled platform.
The 18-year-old, who hails from Umuomainta, Mbawsi, in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area of Abia State, said the cutting-edge digital innovation took him six months of intensive research to develop.
He explained that “ChatATP allows users to chat with any website to perform actions.”
Obinna said he began learning programming at age 16 using his father’s mobile phone and, within three months, completed his first project — teaching himself along the way.
He said he drew inspiration from the exploits of the Jewish-American tech icon and founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg.
“Mark Zuckerberg is my idol,” he said, adding that his goal is to establish his own AI company that will grow into a global brand.
“I love automations, and I wanted to have my own AI company. So, I had to learn how.”
Obinna, who is currently undergoing his internship at ECR Technology Services, Port Harcourt, said his desire is to put Africa on the global digital map.
“I want to make an impact and contribute to the growth of AI development globally, especially in Africa, and make ChatATP the default AI Assistant for Africans.”
Explaining how ChatATP works, Obinna said the app “has the capability to perform tasks which ChatGPT is unable to handle.”
“If you tell ChatGPT to book a flight for you, it will respond by saying it doesn’t have the capacity to do that. But it can tell you how to go about it — which airlines have the best options and how to book a ticket successfully.
“So, I decided to research an AI agent that can make it possible for ChatGPT to book flights directly.
ChatATP, which I developed after months of research and trials, acts as a layer between the airline’s website and ChatGPT, enabling the chatbot to carry out actions on the site so users can simply type prompts to perform tasks.”
He noted that although he was almost discouraged by the unwillingness of potential collaborators, he never gave up.
“Everyone I wanted to work with declined. They were very busy, but I told myself: it’s either I succeed or I succeed. So, I fired on. I thank God who enabled me to succeed.”
Obinna said he wanted to “build something that makes large language models like ChatGPT do more than just chat with users — something that allows them to perform actions outside the confines of chatgpt.com.”
Continuing, he said: “I’m a backend developer; I couldn’t find any frontend developers, so I had to learn. I couldn’t even get UI and UX designers.
“I realised that tools like ChatGPT are powerful, but they’re not built to solve problems end-to-end.
“If you ask them to analyse data and send the report to someone by email, for example, they stop halfway. You still need to copy, paste, or do the rest yourself.
“That gap led me to experiment with combining different AI models and adding execution layers on top. The result is ChatATP, an AI that doesn’t just answer but also acts. It’s like giving ChatGPT arms and legs to actually get things done.”
Meanwhile, the Abia State Government has expressed delight over Obinna’s innovation and assured him of support to achieve his dreams.
Special Assistant to the Governor on Digital Economy, Ms. Chibuzor Chijioke, told Vanguard that the government had put in place measures to encourage start-ups in the digital space.
She expressed satisfaction that “most of the things he did were self-taught,” adding that looking up to a global figure like Mark Zuckerberg was quite inspiring.
“Taking initiative is the first step of innovation. And seeing a young man do that at 18 years is very heartwarming.”
On how the government would support the innovator, the SSA said the state would reach out to identify areas where he could be encouraged.
She added: “We’re already working with startup funds to domesticate youth innovation in our state. These funds have supported startups like his, so they can be incubated.
“It’s not just about having an app ready; you need a community — people who will test it, use it, and help it scale. We have plans in place to support visions like his and many other similar ideas.”
