FUTA to represent Nigeria at international maths contest in Bulgaria

The Federal University of Technology, Akure, (FUTA), Nigeria will represent the country at the International Mathematics Competition (IMC), being organised by the University College, London. It will take place at the American University, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, from July 25th to 29th, 2016.

The institution booked the slot after four of its students finished tops at the 8th National Mathematics Competition for University Students (NAMCUS 2016), which took place in Abuja, at the behest of the National Mathematical Centre.

Twenty-four universities from across the country were represented by 96 students at the competition.

The FUTA team, which carried the day was made up of Michael Omolaja, a 500-Level student, who clinched a gold medal and the title of the “Best Student Mathematician in Nigerian Universities; Mary Akinade and Segun Ofe, both 500-Level students (silver medals) and Desmond Dike, a 300-Level student, who won a bronze medal. Dr. Babatope Omolofe and Mr. Ayodeji Afolabi, both lecturers in the Department of Mathematics, supervised the team.

The international mathematics competition would consist of two sessions, each lasting five hours, with problems to be solved drawn from the fields of Algebra, real and complex analysis, geometry and combinatorics. About 80 countries are expected to participate in the competition.

Omolaja remarked that God’s grace and hard work were the two things that stood the team out.

The gold medalist is a Fluid Numerical and Complex Analysis major in the making. Thus far, he has garnered a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.69 and several published journal papers to his credit.

Akinade, one of the silver medalists and the only female on the team, explained that mathematics phobia amongst students was misplaced emphasising that the successful study of the subject only demands interest, support, persistent practice and confidence.