By Dayo Adesulu

Students of Adeyemi Demonstration Secondary School, Ondo; and Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja emerged winners of the mathematics competition in this year’s Cowbellpedia TV Quiz  held in Lagos at the weekend. While Ayodeji Akinkuowo of Adeyemi Demonstration won the trophy for the senior category; his counterpart, Munachi Ernest-Eze of Loyola Jesuit won the gold medal for the junior cadre.

Other finalists in the senior category were Titilayo Fasoro-Adewale of Hallmark Secondary School, Ondo (2nd) and Joshua Mokut of Emilis Academy, Calabar, Cross River State, 3rd position. Similarly, in the junior cadre, Ajoke Taiwo of Scholars Universal Sec. School, Ota, Ogun State; came second while Ayomide Fadipe of Loyola Jesuit College came third.

Speaking at the occasion, Olivier Thiry, Managing Director, Promasidor Nigeria Ltd, makers of Cowbell, commended all the finalists for outstanding performance out of over 34,000 students who enlisted for the competition.

He said “I will like to encourage you to keep up with the momentum.  At Promasidor, we are very proud to be nourishing the dreams of our future leaders with our various products. We believe in Nigeria and its bright future and will continue to invest not only in its business but also in the society.

“The TV Quiz Competition added to the contest this year is a reflection of our determination to always explore possible ways of rekindling interest of secondary school students in mathematics.”

The winners in both categories went home with cash prizes of N750,000, N500,000 and N250,000 for 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions. Their Mathematics teachers  went home with N250,000; N200,000 and N150,000 respectively. The winning schools got 5 computer units/printer; 3 computer units/printer; and 2 computer units/printer. Also the champions for the two categories and their mathematics teachers will be sponsored on an all-expense paid vacation to Gambia.

The Registrar, National  Examination Council (NECO) Prof Abdulrashid Garba, said: “Nigeria wants to be a great nation, but we cannot achieve that if Mathematics and sciences are not taken seriously. This competition is one of those concepts that will help to raise the standard of education in this country.”

In her Goodwill Message, Ms Jean Gough, UNICEF Country Representative, commended the Cowbellpedia Team and Ministry of Education for their strive towards education for all in Nigeria.