The southeast region of Nigeria will organise a maths olympiad to spark interest in the subject and uncover new STEM talent.

Registration for the maths competition will close by January 31st at 12:00 midnight, WAT. A mock exam will take place on 24th February 2026. The stage one exam is four days later. The main final exam is on March 7th, 2025, and will be broadcast nationally.

The Olympiad allows every child in Abia, Enugu, Imo, Anambra, and Ebonyi to compete for prize money and mentorship.

Alex Onyia is the convener of the Maths Olympiad Competition. He is also the founder of the Intervention for South East Education Fund (ISEE). Onyia believes the competition is a net positive for grassroots education. It aligns with his vision to revamp education in the region by raising funds for interventions and organising competitions.

Before this competition, students from eastern Nigeria excelled internationally, winning global contests and outperforming peers from developed nations.

In 2018, five female students from Regina Pacis Model Secondary School, Onitsha, became the first African team to win the gold medal in the world’s largest tech entrepreneurship program for girls. The World Technovision Challenge (Junior Division) was held in San Francisco, USA. The event featured students from the USA and China.

Students from this region consistently excel in national contests. The South East Maths Olympiad aims to build on this momentum, focusing on mathematics.

Competition Incentives and Deliverables

The South East Maths Olympiad Competition offers prize money and mentorship for the top three candidates in each category. Participants for the competition are divided into Senior, Junior, and Primary categories.

The prize money for the maths quiz is N5 million for the Senior category. Winners in the Junior Category receive N3 million, and winners in the Primary Category receive N2 million. Other incentives include laptops and university scholarships for winners.

The prize pool will be raised through government funding, corporate sponsors, and high-net-worth individuals.

The governments of the five Southeast states provide core funding through their Ministries of Education as part of a STEM education initiative.

Major Nigerian banks and telecom companies often sponsor such events as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.

Educational foundations, such as the National Mathematical Centre (NMC) in Abuja, might provide technical support and partial grants to ensure the competition meets national and international standards. High-net-worth individuals in the Southeast are also poised to donate to cover prize money, scholarships, and participant logistics. The South East Maths Competition would be 100% computerised to optimise transparency and accuracy.

The Back to School Initiative

Aside from the maths competition, Alex Onyia, the competition convener, is also leading an intervention program to fund the education of students who are out of school due to financial constraints.

The Back to School Initiative targets underserved children in Nigeria’s Southeast to bridge educational gaps.

The initiative is based on the belief that quality education is a right for all children, regardless of economic background.

The program covers more than tuition, offering holistic support for academic success.

The initiative primarily covers tuition fees for hundreds of primary and secondary school students who are at risk of dropping out due to financial hardship.

Additionally, the initiative provides “Back to School” kits with uniforms, shoes, backpacks, and stationery, removing hidden costs that often keep children out of school. The initiative also introduces students to digital learning, ensuring rural students are not left behind in the global technological race.

The South East Maths Olympiad may serve as a pilot for a nationwide version of the competition. Interested parties are closely monitoring its progress. The results will inform their next steps.

Other regions may introduce their own versions if this eastern Nigerian competition succeeds.

Nigeria, with over 200 million people, is a major contributor to Africa’s youth. Competitions like the South East Maths Competition develop STEM skills for global opportunities.