Until last Thursday, no one pupil
had won both the junior and senior categories of the Cowbell National Secondary
School Mathematics Competition (NASSMAC), which started in 1998. But Akintokun
Adegboyega of Ota Total Academy, Ota in Ogun State now holds that record.
On that day, at the Ibom Le Meridien
Hotel and Resort, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, the 13-year old was crowned the winner
of the senior secondary category of the competition after scoring 96 per cent
in the second stage examination. He had won the junior category of the
competition two years earlier as a JSS3 pupil.
He attributes his success to hard
work and a deliberate training programme by his school.
“Our school has been training
students for this competition right from JSS1. My school sets aside
brilliant students who are good in mathematics. The best three among them
are chosen to enter for the competition,” he said.
Adegboyega did not achieve the feat
without his mathematics teacher, Mr Ganiyu Fatai, who encouraged by his first
win, put in efforts to prepare him to win again as an SS2 pupil.
“We did not relent on our efforts
because we know that nobody has that record in the history of the
competition. The school worked hard to make that record. We thank
God for crowning our effort with success,” he said.
To prepare pupils for the
examination each year, Fatai said the grooming starts from JSS1.
He said: “We normally have cowbell
students in all the classes. When they are in SS1, they would have
covered the WAEC syllabus. Then we start with further mathematics and
advanced mathematics to widen their scope. Then for those in junior
school by the time they are in JSS2, they would have completed the JSS
syllabus. In JSS3 we start them with SS1 syllabus. So our JSS3
students can write WAEC and pass. So there is no question that will come around
that will be strange.
“We solve a lot of questions.
About 70 percent of Cowbell NASSMAC questions are word problem. We teach
the students various ways the questions can come.”
Adegboyega won a star prize of
N300,000, a laptop computer, trophy, plaque and a bag of branded products from
the stables of Promasidor, makers of Cowbell milk and organisers of the
programme. His teacher was rewarded with N50,000, while the school got five
desktop computers and a printer. The duo will also get an all-expense
paid trip to Ghana later in the year.
And, if Adegboyega decides to study
Mathematics in the University, the National Mathematical Centre (NMC) will
sponsor him to any university anywhere in the world.
Adegboyega was followed in the
second position by 15-year old Fiyinfoluwa Abioye of the Nigerian Turkish
International College (NTIC CO-ED), Wuse 2, Abuja with 85 per cent; and
Babalola David Oluwasayo of Oritameta Baptist Model School, Ibadan, Oyo State
who came third with 83. They got N250,000 and N200,000 as cash prizes,
plaques, and products. Their teachers got N30,000 and N20,000, while the
schools got three and two computers each.
In the junior category, 13-year old
Deborah Adesina of Graceland International School, Port Harcourt, Rivers State
won with 81 per cent. Atolagbe Yusuf Olayinka of Nigerian Turkish International
College, Isheri, Ogun State and Johnson Stella Doris of Reality High School,
Ilesha, Osun State were the first and second runners-up in the junior
category. They were rewarded with between N150,000 and N250,000 and other
gift prizes.
The remaining 14 contestants in the
top 10 of both category got N15,000 as consolation prize. Those in the
senior category also got mini laptops.
In his speech at the event, Mr.
Olivier Thiry, Managing Director of Promasidor Nigeria Limited, noted that for
Nigeria to compete with the world in this digital age, its human capital must
be well trained in the sciences.
“Transformational development will
come from the quality of human capital Nigeria has and this can only be
developed through education especially the learning of mathematics and
science,” he said.
Thiry said that Promasidor believes
in Nigeria and would continue to invest not only in its business but also in
its host communities.
He said: “We have demonstrated this
faith in the Nigerian society by investing millions of naira in the conduct of
the NASSMAC competition and we promise to sustain our support of mathematics as
best as we can.”
In his address, the Supervising
Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, who was represented by Mrs Chioma
Philips, Director, Federal Inspectorate Service, Federal Ministry of Education,
the Minister commended Promasidor for getting actively involved in the drive
towards developing the standard of education in Nigeria.
Also speaking, Governor Godswill
Obot Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State implored other corporate organisations to
emulate Promasidor, as education holds the key to the future of the nation.
source: The Nation.
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