Team Nigeria has returned from the 2026 Pan-African Mathematics Olympiad in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast, with three silver medals and one bronze, their best performance at the competition in 20 years. The achievement places Nigeria among the top-performing nations at this year’s edition of Africa’s most prestigious secondary school mathematics competition, which drew top students from over 25 countries across the continent between 26 June and 4 July.

The Pan-African Mathematics Olympiad is organised annually by the African Mathematical Union and is widely regarded as the African equivalent of the International Mathematical Olympiad. Competing students, all under 20 years old, sit two four-and-a-half-hour exam papers across two days, tackling three proof-based problems per paper worth seven points each, for a maximum total of 42 points. It is one of the most demanding academic competitions on the continent, and Nigeria’s four-medal haul at this year’s edition is a result the country has not matched in two decades.

Six students represented Nigeria at PAMO 2026, five of whom are from Special Maths Academy, an institution that organises intensive Olympiad training camps across the country. Together, they brought home three silver medals and one bronze, but it is the story behind the medals that makes this result historic.

In the entire history of Nigeria’s participation in PAMO, no Nigerian girl had ever reached the silver podium. At PAMO 2026, that changed. Chimfumnanya Aghaduno became the first Nigerian female to win a silver medal at the competition, and she did not do it alone, another Nigerian girl stood on the silver podium alongside her at the very same time, a double first that has never happened before in the competition’s history for Nigeria.

Special Maths Academy, confirming the achievement, said: “This has never happened before. In the entire history of Nigeria’s participation in this competition, no Nigerian girl had ever reached the Silver podium. Today, two of them did it at the exact same time. This isn’t just a win for the trophy cabinet; it completely changes the game for every young girl across Nigeria who loves maths but wonders if she belongs at the top. It turns out she does.”