Over twenty secondary schools across the Southwest gathered in Lagos for Mathema 2.0, a competition and leadership conference themed “Advancing Leadership & Mathematical Excellence.”
Held at Combo Hall, Lagos Television, Ikeja, on Friday, the event emphasised the need to empower young leaders and strengthen mathematical skills, particularly among students from public and less-advantaged schools.
Project Manager, Mojolaoluwa Adegoke, said the theme was chosen to address societal decline and improve the quality of future leaders.
“This event is specifically aimed at improving the quality of leaders we bring forth into society. It’s also aimed at helping students who don’t have the capacity,” she noted.
She explained that prizes and support given to participants were designed to help them overcome disadvantages and compete effectively in society.
Convener, Civil Engineer Osuniyi Segun Emmanuel, said the initiative was conceived to make tough tasks easier for students and to help them thrive. He added that this year’s edition included a leadership conference to encourage participants to grow across all aspects of life.
“One of my greatest passions is love for students. I want to see students succeed, and I want to see difficult tasks being simple for them, and that is why this event is happening. Here we are having a mathematics competition and conference, and why we added a conference this time around is because we want to build their leadership skills.
That is why we have the team Advancing Leadership and Mathematic Excelling, so not just are you excelling in maths, you are also having skill up with your leadership skills,” he said.
He noted that a major challenge was the unavailability of top educational bodies and sponsorship from the government, urging that events like this help shape the minds of students and prepare them for a greater future.
He said, “One of the major challenges we had during the journey of this event is sponsorship from the government, pleading to the government to please partner with us to see that we have more schools represented and impact more students positively.
Ahead of Mathema 3.0, we are seeking partnerships from government, not only the government, private associations like the NAPPS, the MAN, and other educational associations to please partner together for this initiative.”
Joshua Ajayi, Founder and CEO of Brand Communicator, who had also attended the maiden edition, observed significant growth. “The second one is a lot bigger, better, with more participation from different schools, and, of course, you also have a lot more buying‑in from brands,” he said. “A lot of organizations are throwing their weight behind this … it shows there’s a good level of growth.”
On how the initiative builds “mathematics sound minds,” Ajayi said competitions like this help to “fish out some of the best brains, discover the brightest minds from this very point, and help to nurture them to even higher heights.”
Omolola Adetona, a registered civil engineer and project management professional, praised the performance of the students. “They’ve been in competitions, they’ve done reading, they’re doing oral, and they’re actually answering the mathematics question exceedingly well.”
She further called for broader inclusion, “Let’s incorporate more students, let’s also look at the handicapped pupils, as we should encourage all students, regardless of background or ability, to engage them and help them become a better version of themselves, regardless of their physical conditions.”
Several students present spoke about how the competition exposed gaps in their understanding and motivated them to do more.
Ojeabulu Shalom of Favour and Mercy College reflected, “It has helped me to make me, when I go back, I will work on myself, and I’ll put more effort in what I’m doing.”
Faluyi Ayomide of Glorious Scholars Academy, Sango Ota, said, “This is not the end, this is just the beginning, I’ll continue studying harder, and ensure I keep the flag flying.”
The event concluded with awards recognising schools, students, and partners who have made outstanding contributions to the cause of mathematical excellence and youth leadership.
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