Chidubem is a student of Nigeria Turkish International College (NTIC), Abuja. The JSS 1 student is on scholarship in the school. He had written the yearly National Mathematics Competition while he was in Pyramid Learning Academy, Anambra State.

Having excelled in the examination, he was awarded scholarship, which he is enjoying in NTIC.

According to him, it has been a wonderful experience, as the competition has made him to know the power of mathematics, a subject that he was not very good at initially.

“It has exposed me to various competitions and we have had lessons that help us to get deeper into the subject.

“I am happy about the scholarship, which is a relief to my parents. My parents are proud of me, and they know that I can do better. My ambition is to be a great mathematician,” he said.

Another successful student, Luis Lu, who is currently in JSS 2 at NTIC, Abuja, is also a beneficiary of the scholarship.

According to him, he was in Primary 5 at Kerredale Preparatory School, Port Harcourt, when he came for the competition and passed for which he is now on scholarship.

“In 2022, I wrote the examination on February 5. I did not know that I was going to get to second round, but miraculously, I got it and I came first. I felt very excited when I came top. I felt like I was on top of the world,” Lu said.

According to him, at NTIC, he has participated in different competitions for which he has won both gold and silver medals.

Now in JSS 2, he said he started getting gold continuously and getting higher scores. “I see myself turning out to becoming a great mathematician and a very successful one at that,” the boy said.

He has participated in global competitions such as Mathematics Without Borders, Fisso International Round and Commodos Dragon.

Their stories and that of many other narratives have shaped the yearly National Mathematics Competition: The country’s largest and most prestigious mathematics competition, providing students with a platform to showcase their mathematical skills.

This year, Daniel Rubans was shortlisted for the competition, which his mother, Mrs. Omotayo Rubans, sees as a great opportunity for him to compete in a series of challenging mathematical problems, thereby, building his confidence and love for it.

Rubans brought her son, who is in primary five, to take part in the jostle for a place at the NTIC, Abuja, with high expectations.

According to the mother, she is happy that her son is being exposed early in life to develop interest in mathematics, which she is hopeful will prepare the ground for him to excel in whatever career he so chose just like his father, Mr Joshua Rubans, who is a pilot.

While saying she is optimistic her son will come out tops, the lady believes NTIC has provided a platform for the boy to showcase his skills preparatory for a brighter future.

Rubans said it is an opportunity for the pupils to enhance their preparedness for the future by instilling in them essential values and insights for informed decision making.

“As we all know, anyone who is good in mathematics is best in analytical thinking, logical reasoning and improved mental capacity,” she said.

Other parents who brought their children for the competition were of the same opinion that the mastery of the subject would prepare their wards with skills for solving problems in life.

The competition, which is organised by NTIC, in partnership with the National Mathematical Centre (NMC), had over 10,000 students from primaries five and six to JSS 1, 2, and 3, who wrote at 35 centres in 30 states across Nigeria, recently.

The yearly competition, which has been consistent for 21 years, has become a household name in Nigeria’s educational curriculum, particularly, in the field of mathematics.

An educationist, who is National President, Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS), Comrade Samuel Omaji, has extolled the importance of mathematics for growing children.

Omaji noted that when they grow up with mathematics, the problem solving part of their brain is triggered to solve problems.

Speaking with The Guardian on the importance of mathematics, he observed that the subject has a lot to do with creativity and bringing out their ingenuity.

“The issue in the world today is how to solve problems. You also know that problem solvers are the rich people. Even the services we render are geared towards serving one need or the other.

“You cannot be sleeping and say you are a leader. Mathematics motivates a person to think towards problem solving. You know about how to solve problems.

“The little problem you solve today will motivate you to solve greater problems and you become more creative, your ingenuity is being brought forth and I think that is why mathematics is very important.”

Most mathematical activity involves the discovery of properties of abstract objects and the use of pure reason to prove them.

These objects consist of either abstractions from nature or—in modern mathematics—entities that are stipulated to have certain properties, called axioms. A proof consists of a succession of applications of deductive rules to already established results. These results include previously proved theorems, axioms, and—in case of abstraction from nature—some basic properties that are considered true starting points of the theory under consideration.

Managing Director of the Nigerian Turkish International College, Fevzullah Bilgin, said the yearly National Mathematics Competition (ANMC) is a contest in mathematics holding across Nigeria.

Those that are eligible to participate in the examination are primaries five and six pupils, as well as junior Secondary School students.

“This is an examination that NTIC organises in collaboration with National Mathematics Center (NMC) and the most important thing about the examination is that in today’s world, we need intelligent people who have problem solving skills, who are creative and have leadership skills.

“The competition in mathematics is actually making the students to become more intelligent so that they have a high level of problem solving skills,” Belgin said.

The NTIC boss said for a student to become successful, his or her capability has to be enhanced through study of mathematics. “So, NTIC and NMC, with the mission of doing this noble action, organise this competition ANMC that has been going on in Nigeria for 21 years without any break.

“NMC has helped a lot of students in various schools, as thousands of them sit for this examination, which has demystified mathematics.

“It is helping the students to learn and study mathematics successfully. What we do is a valuable contribution to the mathematics education and academics in general,” Bilgin said.

“NTIC is the organiser of the mathematics competition but of course the contribution of NMC cannot be underestimated. It is something very important that they are doing.

“Without their partnership, we would not have been able to attain the present level. There is the first and second round.

“Our biggest contribution, devotion to this competition is legendary but that is not all, the biggest issue is what is coming after which is the scholarship programme.”

According to Bilgin: “What I mean is that thousands of students take part in the examination and every year we are giving 32 students scholarship until they graduate from SS3.

“Right now it is my pleasure to tell you that 144 students are currently benefitting from the programme.

“It is a great investment for Nigeria’s future in my own understanding. The scholarship is actually the biggest part of the investment.

“For every year, we have not given a break, we have been organising the competition for the past 21 years.

“Today we are organising the first round. Thousands of students from 27 states are participating in this competition. After we are through, we will organise the second round.

“Successful students from the first round will come and they are going to compete for the second round. After the second round, five students will qualify for the scholarship.

“There are some monetary prizes for the successful students and also for the teachers and also for the schools, such as computers, photocopying machines and printers.”

On the successes after 21 years, he said when he was the principal of NTIC Abuja, a product of the competition, who was given scholarship, graduated in 2012 after which he gained admission into MIT with scholarship and he became the best graduating student with a GPA of points.

“After his graduation, he was employed by Google Canada. Right now he is there. We also had a girl who was given scholarship in NTIC Kano, after she graduated; she also gained admission into Othman Danfodio University Sokoto, where she studied mathematics.

“She graduated as the best in the university; she broke the 42 years record of the university. She was given scholarship to study at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for her master’s degree. She also got 4 out of 4 GPA.

“After that, she was also given scholarship for PhD in Florida University. If not for the scholarship, she would not have been able to achieve this success story,” Bilgin said.

“So, we had a lot of success stories. Another student who was given scholarship again into a University in Canada came back and he is now one of our Olympiad trainers. His name is Henry Aniobi. He is a four time medalist in International Mathematics Olympiad.

“So, as you can see, NTIC is bringing out intelligent students and making them to become even better in the international arena so that the students participate in the competition and then get admission into internationally very successful top universities in the world.”

His magic against the phobia of mathematics is the need for quality teachers, very experienced teachers that will make the subject to become interesting for students.

The coordinator of the ANMC, who is also a mathematics teacher at NTIC, Mr. Shaban Malik, said last year 8,000 students participated while in 2024 more than 10,000 were enlisted.

“All over Nigeria, we have the same examination, which will be conducted same time, 11.00am. All our representatives are at the examination centres.

“We are holding examination in more than 35 centres in 30 states. Some states have more than one exam center like Lagos, where there are five centres.

“We start our registration process by November, we have sent Exam forms to different States and those forms were filled physically and those who are writing it will come on the exam dates with exam cards before we can let them write. Around 500 students registered on line.

“Our goal is to produce students who are good in mathematics. As we all know, anyone who is good in mathematics is best in analytical thinking, logical reasoning and improved metal capacity.”