On Friday, August 1, 2025, at exactly 4:45 PM Nigerian time, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA — carrying with it a unique payload: egusi seeds from Oyo State, Nigeria.
This groundbreaking mission, part of the international Seeds in Space initiative, was made possible by Temidayo Oniosun, an alumnus of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) and one of Africa’s leading space experts.
According to a statement from FUTA, “FUTA Alumnus, Temidayo Oniosun — Mission Egusi in Space Accomplished.”
Oniosun is participating in a global project where individuals from different parts of the world send seeds into orbit to study their behavior in space. His contribution — egusi seeds, widely used in West African cuisine — marks a historic first.
“This is the first time seeds from Nigeria, and indeed any agricultural crop from West Africa, are being sent into space,” FUTA noted.
The mission aims to explore how egusi responds to microgravity and assess its potential as a sustainable food source for future space travel and agricultural innovation.
With this achievement, Oniosun not only represents the possibilities of African space science but also places Nigerian agriculture on a new frontier — outer space.
