For years, secondary schools in Ota, Ogun State, have excelled in mathematics competitions. Educationists are seeking recognition for the town over this feat, report ERNEST NWOKOLO and KOFOWOROLA BELO-OSAGIE.
ta, an industrial and densely-populated town, is the headquarters of Ado/Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State. It is the traditional headquarters of the Awori.
The ancient town hosts former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s farm, Winners’ Chapel, the Covenant University, the Africa Leadership Forum, and the Bells University of Technology, among others.
It is a trading point because of its proximity to Lagos and link to the border with the Republic of Benin through Idiroko Road.
But beyond this, the town is fast becoming the nation’s hub for upcoming mathematicians. Secondary schools in Ota have distinguished themselves in mathematics and other science competitions, especially the one sponsored by Promasidor Nigeria Ltd, which is regarded as the most prestigious mathematics competition in the land, considering the prize money and the large number of participants from across the country.
Ota schools’ maths laurels
In the history of the Cowbell National Secondary School Mathematics Competition (NASSMAC), which became a nationwide competition in 2001, and its successor, the Cowbellpedia Television Quiz Competition, which made its debut in 2015, schools in Ota have always won the slot to represent Ogun State in the final stage.
The schools that have represented the state include Iganmode Grammar School, Ota Total Academy, Scholars Universal Secondary School, and the Ambassadors School.
In the past seven years, there have been one or two among these four schools among the top three winners in any of the two categories.
Iganmode Grammar School, the oldest public secondary school in the area, set the pace for others to follow. It has won either the junior or senior secondary categories of the competition five times (2002, 2007, 2011, 2012 and 2013).
For winning the award between 2011 and 2013, the town celebrated the pupils who made the state proud.
Then principal, Prince Joseph Obalanlege, was declared best Principal for Ota Zone by the Ota Zonal Education Authority for his leadership that brought about the excellent performance in maths.
The teacher credited with training the pupils, Mr Atinsola Akeem, said the school made it to the final eight times and won five times.
Sadly, since 2013, Iganmode Grammar School has not defended its title because of the challenge from private schools.
In 2012 and 2014, Ota Total Academy, founded in 2001 by a former principal of Iganmode Grammar School, won the senior category of the competition. This was building on its success in 2010 when it came second. In the Cowbellpedia era, it came fifth in the senior emerged in 2015; and got the fifth and sixth in 2016.
Scholars Universal Secondary School has also upped the ante. It got the second prize (junior category) in 2015 and though its representative in the 2016 Cowbellpedia, Idowu Oluwatunmise, did not win any of the first three slots, she holds the record of answering 17 questions correctly in the 60 seconds of fame round of the competition. Before her, the previous record was 15 questions in one minute.
However, perhaps the reigning champion, the Ambassadors School, has the most colourful story of all. Its first Cowbellpedia laurel came in 2010 (third place, junior category). But last year, it surprised the organisers and participants by clinching all six prizes in both categories (worth N8.5 million) in a final that was dominated by Ota schools.
Successes in other areas
The four schools in Ota have also shown they are not only about mathematics but excel in other areas as well. There are testimonies from the schools that their pupils excel in external examinations, as well as win other local and international competitions, and get scholarships.
Iganmode won the 2013 American Mathematics Competition organised by the International Academy of the Gifted, National Computer JETS Competition (2004), NNPC National Quiz Competition (2003) and STAN National Science Quiz Competition (2001).
Apart from Cowbellpedia, Ota Total Academy has also won various academic achievements which include NNPC Science Quiz Competition, 2013 and 2014 ( second place).
Scholars Universal Secondary School also has other laurels in its kitty – like the National Mathematics Olympiad (1st to 8th positions in the first stage), first and third positions in Ogun State MAN Mathematics Olympiad (senior quiz) and the 2016 STAN/Mobil Science (second).
The Ambassadors College has also won various academic laurels in the past including the Young Educator’s Foundation (first, second and third); MAN Mathematics Competition (second, Southwest Zone); NNPC Science Competition (final), among others.
Professor of Mathematics and former Director-General, National Mathematical Centre (NMC), Abuja, Adewale Solarin, told The Nation that pupils in Ota have been doing well for a long time in other competitions.
Solarin said pupils from Ota have performed brilliantly in the Mathematical Kangaroo (Kangourou sans frontières in French) – an international mathematical competition where students from about 71 countries participate annually.
The Algebraist, who hails from Sagamu, Ogun State, added that he recognised Ota as a hub for young mathematicians, attributing the schools’ successes to their investment in education.
“I recognised that the pupils in Ota schools are doing well not only in mathematics. I discovered that the proprietors of schools there have interest in Maths teachers and they are putting a lot of efforts to encourage and motivate the teachers. Students should be given scholarships so that they can do more and make other students to emulate them. Of truth, scholarship is the way to go about it,” he said.
Mr Alonge Timothy, a maths teacher and co-proprietor of Scholars Universal School, said schools in Ota were inspired by the feats achieved by Iganmode Grammar School.
“We have brilliant students here and we have what it takes to manage them well. We are all following the footsteps of Iganmode Grammar School. Some of the maths teachers in Ota are products of the school.
“So, we felt that if Iganmode Grammar School could win external maths competitions, we challenged ourselves to do the right thing to win and before you know it, the healthy competition erupted among the schools here.
“That is why schools and pupils in Ota are shinning every year in Cowbellpedia competition and others. We hope every other state will follow suit,” he said.
Chairman of Ambassadors School, Ota Mr Samson Osewa said Iganmode Grammar School played a positive role in spurring other schools to excellence.
“Iganmode was renowned for mathematics and all principals posted to the school took it as important. They were always in the finals. After sometime, a former principal of Iganmode, Babasanya, started Ota Total Academy and they started competing. We came into the picture in 2010 when we came third,” he said.
Osewa said his school got to where it is today by investing heavily in competent mathematics teachers, training them, instituting a system of excellence in academic performance as well as reward.
For instance, he said the school has 17 maths teachers and has a policy of having more than one in class at a time. It also holds bi-weekly tests in all subjects called King and Queen tests, where pupils who score 85 per cent and above are crowned the kings and queens of the subjects.
Five years ago, the school also started its own mathematics competition – The Ultimate Mathematics Ambassadors (TUMA) for primary schools in Lagos and Ogun states.
Osewa said some of the most impressive results of the school’s investments have been outstanding performance of its pupils in international examinations as well as scholarships.
“In our school, our investment is paying off. In 2012, we were ranked 71 in the country in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). In 2013, we were 40 and in 2014, eighth. I think in our school, it is reflecting in our results more than other schools.
“In the beginning of last year, those who represented the school in Cowbellpedia 2015, who only made it to the semi final of the competition, also scored 100 per cent in the Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics and later in the year, they wrote the American SAT and scored 800/800 in mathematics and 680/800 in English. Three of them got scholarship into Howard University in the U.S. In all, six of our students got scholarships abroad,” he said.
Government recognition or lack of it
Some of the teachers lamented the lack of the Ogun State government’s recognition of Ota schools’ contributions to the state’s educational achievements.
Alonge of Scholars Universal College said they had received no commendation from the government so far.
“We want Ota to become the hub of mathematics in Nigeria but the government is not recognising this. If it is football competition, they would have been celebrated but if it is in the academic, they stay away.
“We are not asking for money but just recognition and commendation for making Ota and Ogun State proud every year in the last six years,” Alonge said.
Osewa on his part said it would not be out of place for the government to reward the schools financially.
“Government should encourage everybody. In some states when they win Cowbellpedia, they get N15/N20 million from the government. What we want is encouragement. Iganmode’s performance might have gone down because of lack of encouragement,” he said.
However, Osewa lauded the Iganmode Club of Ota, which hosted all four schools and rewarded last year’s winners penultimate week.
“This year, Iganmode Club of Ota hosted all nine finalists and the four schools that have been representing Ota to a sumptuous dinner. They have thrown a challenge to the government,” he said.
At the event, the club honoured Oguntade Ayo, Adeyemi Taiwo, Udo Eno-obong Blessing, Ekoko Juliet, Daniel Ore-Ofe and Okoli Glory – the six winners from The Ambassadors School; as well as Oluwatunmise Idowu of Scholars Universal School, and Fatoke Ademola and Adeyanju Hasana of Ota Total Academy.
The teachers and schools were also not left out as they too got tokens from the club.
The club’s president, Obalanlege, said the pupils, teachers and their schools deserved honour for making Ota proud and putting its name in national consciousness through academic excellence.
Obalanlege said: “We the members of Iganmode Club Ota appreciate and congratulate you on your well deserved victory knowing that you have made Ota proud in particular and Ogun state in general.
“The 2016 edition of Cowbellpedia competition has come and gone but the superlative performance of schools from Ota in Ogun State will forever be remembered as they performed feat that is unparalleled in the history of the competition.”
The former principal said the club did not need to wait for the government to recognise the schools.
“These are things we love to associate our self with. We believe that government cannot be responsible for everything and our mindset should change from what government can for us to what can we do for the government.
“We believe in you and say even now that the country is faced with challenges of moving into a world in which problem solving is in high demand, we have faith that you these geniuses can use your creative skills to proffer solutions to our numerous problems,” he said.
Zonal Education Officer for Ado/Odo/Ota Local Government Area Mrs. Oluwatosin Oloko said the state remained proud of Iganmode Grammar School and others that are attracting good names to the area.
Mrs. Oloko, who was represented on the occasion by Mrs. Yusuf Olayinka, said the government would train teachers next month to help them remain relevant.
She, however, said the government could not do it alone, urging the private sector to complement its efforts.
The lawmaker representing Ota in the Ogun State House of Assembly, Hon. Nurudeen Aina, pledged to bring the achievements of Ota schools to the floor of the House. He said the pupils deserved commendation from the Ogun Assembly for doing the state proud.
The legislator, however, lamented that Iganmode Grammar School which blazed the trail was plagued by severe congestion because of inadequate classrooms and learning materials.
He said he had donated a block of two classrooms to the school, his alma mater, but added that it amounted to a mere drop in an ocean.
Aina said it was not uncommon to see over 70 pupils receiving lecture in a class in the school.
He appealed to old students and the state government to intervene in the school so it can sustain the high academic standard it is noted for.
