Gift Usen has spent 25 years with one fully formed hand. Now she’s waiting for a device that could change that: a locally built, humanoid bionic arm.
“I grew up to see myself with one and a half hands,” said Usen, a cosmetologist from Akwa Ibom. “Most times I feel discouraged, but I had to encourage myself because this is how I saw it. I didn’t create myself.”
Nigeria keeps no reliable data on prosthetic users, and many amputees struggle to find devices that are both available and affordable. Immortal Cosmetic Art, a Nigerian prosthetics company, says its new “Ubokobong Bionic Arm” aims to close that gap.
The arm uses electromyography (EMG) signals—electrical activity in residual muscles triggered by the nervous system—to control hand movements, said CEO and hyper-realistic prosthetics artist John Amanam Sunday. “They are not just static, but functional and human-like,” he said. “The most beautiful part is that it is black skin coloured.”
The company plans to begin production if it secures government or NGO support to subsidise prices. Amanam said there are advance orders from Nigeria and overseas, including the United States, Britain, Australia and Ghana.
The project was inspired by Amanam’s younger brother, Ubokobong, who lost fingers to firecrackers six years ago and struggled to find lifelike replacements in Nigeria. Early devices were cosmetic only; after three years of development drawing on his background in technology and electronics, Ubokobong produced a working bionic model that now bears his name.
Amanam has not set a launch date, but Usen says she is ready. “When we are launching it will be my greatest happiness ever,” she said. “Finally, I’ll have two hands.”