Nassmac Championship - Oyo Battles for Glory

A mild drama occurred around 10 a.m. at the Oke-Bola Comprehensive High School, Ibadan centre of the 2010 National Secondary School Mathematics Competition (NASSMAC).The school is one of the five centres for Oyo State in the State preliminaries of this Cowbell - sponsored annual national contest held nationwide last Saturday.

One of the candidates, Akinkuowo Yinka Martins of Eleiyele High School I, Ibadan was seen crying uncontrollably and searching frantically for his registration form which he had lost while rushing eagerly to the centre to participate in the competition. Few minutes to the commencement of the exam,when the boy was losing hope and wailing hysterically, somebody sped into the school with the missing registration form. After making some enquiries, the good Nigerian traced the owner and handed it to him, explaining that he picked the form on the road and saw from the content that it is intended for an exam that was about to start and that the owner must have lost it while rushing to the exam venue. He therefore boarded a commercial motorcycle and dashed to the exam venue with the registration form. The joy of the young lad was immeasurable as he immediately wiped away his tears, collected the form and quickly formalised the registration exercise amid jubilation by some of his friends and sympathizers at the centre.

280 students were expected to sit for the examination at this centre but a total of 311 candidates turned up for registration and were all accommodated. It was the same story at Oyesina High School , Monatan, Iwo Road , Ibadan where 190 students were expected but a total of 284 registered and participated in the competition. Also at Alayande School of Science, Oke-Bola, Ibadan centre, a total of 249 students turned up for the exam. Other centres in Oyo State included Agrarian Community High School , Igbo-Ora, which recorded 94 participants. At Ogbomoso High School, Ogbomoso there were 150 participants while Iseyin District Grammar School , Iseyin had 250 candidates.

In most of the centres, the examination commenced at about 10.30 a.m. and ended before noon.All the participating students were provided with free Mathematical Sets, writing materials and packs of Cowbell milk, among others. Raffle draws also took place immediately afterthe examination "to create some excitement." Different prizes including Cowbell products, electrical appliances and fans were won by participants. On the average, the exams lasted 1.15 minutes in each of the centres. The participating students were drawn from various schools all over the state, both public and private institutions.

Cowbell's Brand Manager, Mr. Ralph Agbaje who coordinated the competition in the West Regional Zone told Champion Scholar that monitored the exercise in the area that he was delighted over the large turnout of students from across the state coupled with the enthusiasm of the participants.

The Cowbell official disclosed that the second stage of this year's competition would be coming up in Lagos within the second week of March when the successful candidates in the first round would be sitting for another round of competitive test to select the best of the best. He confided in our correspondent that the second stage competitive test would be featuring the two best students from each state of the federation including Abuja totaling 74 in all from where the overall three Best students nationwide would eventually emerge.

According to Mr. Agbaje, Cowbell planned to reach 20,000 annual students participation in the competition in the nearest future "because we see mathematics as the basic foundation for the sciences that would ensure national development." While observing that no nation can develop technologically without sound footing in Mathematics, he stressed the determination of the organizers not to rest on their oars in propagating the ideals of the curriculum to further stimulate the interest of young Nigerians in the field of study.

Mr. Agbaje however noted with joy that the Cowbell National Secondary Schools Mathematics Competition, since its debut in 1998 has been well received by stakeholders all over the country, particularly the Ministries of Education in the various states as well as the private school proprietors, who have all along been good partners in progress. Specifically, he remarked that the competition has been well organized in Oyo State , among other educationally-conscious states in the country, all along, while the youths have shown appreciable interest in the subject.

The participating students and their teachers could not hide their joy over the competition. Miss Okoro Nneoma of Nesam International College , Alexander Road, Ibadan described the exercise as historic, more so, as she won a giant electrical fan during the raffle draw that followed the Mathematics competition at the Oke-Bola Comprehensive School Centre.

To Master Adelabu Samson of Nickdel College, Ibadan, the competition has further challenged him to redouble efforts in his study of Mathematics as he now know better the significance of the subject in educational and societal development. A school teacher who simply called himself Mr. Adigun from Brilliant Stars College, Apata-Ganga, Ibadan was full of gratitude to the organisers "for its trail blazing revolution in the promotion of mathematics among young students in Nigeria." Adigun pledged continued support for the programme by ensuring that his students make the best use of the audio visual learning materials being injected into the scheme from time to time, in the overall interest of the development of Mathematics in the country..

Champion Scholar survey at the various centres indicates that gradually, young Nigerian students arez be responding positively to the call for greater interest in Mathematics. If available record from this year's Cowbell National Secondary Schools Mathematics Competition is anything to go by, it could be said that stakeholders in the nation's educational sector have started seeing the compelling need for the younger generation to rise up squarely to the challenges of technological breakthroughs through advancements in Mathematics study.

It was for this reason that an increasing number of Nigerians are giving kudos to Cowbell for its frontline role in arousing the interest of students towards the study of Mathematics as manifested in its annual National Competition which was formally flagged off twelve years ago. Since its inception in 1998, the Cowbell National Secondary Schools Mathematics Competition has never recorded a boost in Oyo State otherwise known as Nigeria 's Pacesetter State as it did in this year's edition, thereby indicating a rapidly growing interest in the completion.