Bonny professionals stake prize money in Mathematics contest

In order to rekindle the waning interest in Mathematics as well as prepare indigenes to benefit from the jobs to be created by the NLNG Train 7 project, a coalition of Bonny professionals has attached monetary prize to its existing Mathematics competition.

The coalition, G30 Ibani Voice, a socio-political pressure group in Bonny, Rivers State, said this year’s King/Queen of Mathematics Competition, which will have both written and oral versions, would see winners go home with N1.5 million.

The 4th edition of the G30 Ibani Voice King/Queen of Mathematics Contest, which will hold during the 2021/2022 academic session, will be the first time a monetary prize is attached to the competition and also the first time the winner would become the brand ambassador of the competition.

The group tested the ground in 2020 and has come up forcefully after the flag-off of the NLNG Train 7 project.

The $10bn Train 7 is expected to generate up to 52,000 jobs, with Sciences and Mathematics said to be the core subjects in very high demand. There are also several scholarship slots for Nigerians with such science-based subjects as key areas.

Fubara Dan-Jumbo, president of the group, announced this on Friday when he led some leaders of the group on a tour of select secondary schools in Bonny.

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Announcing the commencement of preparations for the competition, Dan-Jumbo stated that there would be two categories. Category A will involve senior secondary students and will be hosted by Bonny National Grammar School (BNGS), while Category B involving junior secondary students will be hosted by Government Girls Secondary School, Finima (GGSSF), both in Bonny Local Government Area.

“We have chosen Bonny National Grammar School as the centre for Category A in the King or Queen of Mathematics Competition 2021. We have Finima Girls as Category B. The schools will be listed that are in category A,” said Dan-Jumbo, who is also a philanthropist.

He said there would be an examination sometime in November for three delegates from each of the schools. From there, two persons would be picked who will be qualified to contest in the semi-finals, which, he said, would be more like an oral quiz.

“Then we will pick the champion of that category. Same thing we will do in Category B. The star winner will be going home and smiling away with the whole sum of N1 million,” he said.

According to the president, the winner of Category B (King/Queen of Mathematics Junior) will go home with the sum of N500,000, while the winner of Category A, who will become the next King or Queen of Mathematics, will go home with the sum of N1 million. He or she would reign for one year as the brand ambassador of the competition and also be part of various social impact initiatives by the G30 Ibani Voice.

Master Fubara Omubo of Community Secondary School, Burukiri was the first winner of the competition during the 2018/2019 academic session and has since then been part of developing the competition.

According to Dan-Jumbo, the competing schools include Bonny National Grammar School, Bonny, Government Girls Secondary School, Finima (GGSSF), Community Secondary School (CSS), Abalamabie, Community Secondary School, Burukiri; Ibitamuno Secondary School, Spring Foundation School, King and Queens Secondary School, Heritage Academy, Lucille Education Centre (LEC), Logos School, among others.

He urged the students to go the extra mile to study and prepare for the competition, stressing that there will be no sentiments attached as the outcome of the competition will be based purely on merit. He said the proof of their desire to win is in their pursuit of the prize money through diligent scholarship.

“That is why I said it is the big one. Come November/December we will know who will be the winner. It is not enough to have a desire. Someone said the proof of desire is in the pursuit. If you truly desire it you are going to pursue it,” he said.

In the delegation were the Secretary General of the G30 Ibani Voice, Godswill Hart; Media Focal Person for the group and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Kristina Reports, Godswill Jumbo; and an elder in the group, Dagogo Waribo.

Responding, the principals of BNGS, Biebelemabo Apiafi; BNGS (UBE), Richard Jumbo; and GGSS, Finima (UBE), Lily Hart, thanked the G30 Ibani Voice and Fubara Dan-Jumbo in particular, for such unique initiative aimed at mainstreaming the educational aspirations of the youths, noting that such competition would reinvigorate the waning interest in education, especially Mathematics.

Highlight of the tour was the award of instant cash prizes of N10,000 each to Isoala Allison (BNGS-UBE), Priscilla Nwaike and Emmanuella Banigo (GGSS-UBE), Precious Udeme (GGSS), and Udekwe Caleb and Ojoamanam Chidiebere (BNGS) for answering random maths questions during the tour.

The G30 Ibani Voice, a convergence of professionals of Bonny origin, has continued to drive the quest for social impact interventions in the educational sector by hosting competitions, giving awards, donating educational resources, and supporting teachers in various schools in Bonny LGA.

Bonny intellectuals believe that in the coming years, youths on the Island with huge Mathematics background and foreign training would compete favourably for top positions in the numerous hydrocarbon ventures in Bonny, especially in the NLNG.