The battle for the 2016 Cowbellpedia Mathematics crown will be won and lost this weekend as 12 finalists roll up their sleeves in preparation for the final ‘battle’. The finalists are spread across three states in the South West, while three schools in Ota, Ogun State produced nine of the twelve finalists.
At the end of the third and final semi-final ‘battle’, Juliet Ekoko and Oreofe Daniels, both of The Ambassadors College, Ota, Ogun State completed the list of the six finalists in the Junior category. The other Junior finalists are: Oluwafunmbi Fakorede of BiboOluwa Academy, Ilesa, Osun State; Dennis Balogun of Greater Tomorrow International College, Akure, Ondo State; OluwatunmiseIdowu of Scholars Universal Academy, Ota, Ogun State and Glory Okoli of The Ambassadors College, Ota, Ogun State.
In the senior category, Adegoke Aromolaran of Bibo Oluwa Academy, Ilesa, Osun State and Ademola Fatoke of Ota Total Academy, Ota, Ogun State picked the final tickets.
The other finalists in the senior category are Blessing Udoh of The Ambassadors College, Ota, Ogun State; HasanahAdeyanju of Ota Total Academy, Ota, Ogun State; TaiwoAdeyemi of The Ambassadors College, Ota, Ogun State; and AyooluwaOguntade of The Ambassadors College, Ota, Ogun State.
In the qualifying written examination that took place in March 2016, Idowu scored 99 percent to qualify as one of the top 20 candidates, while the rest junior finalists scored 98 per cent. The daughter of a Mathematics teacher had earlier set a new Cowbellpedia record of 17 questions answered within a minute in her ‘60 seconds of fame’ in the preliminary round.
In the senior category, Aromolaran, an Ijesha Prince, and Blessing Udoh also scored highly while Fatoke and Adeyanju scored 98 and 97 per cent; respectively. The duo of Adeyemi and Oguntade got 96 per cent.
The journey to the final has been challenging and emotional for the finalists who are slugging it out for the N8.5 million at stake to be shared between the winning students and their teachers.
All the contestants have been variously described as cool, calm, intelligent, hardworking, resolute and ambitious.
The story of Juliet Ekoko has remained a definition of luck, because she survived elimination three times in the road to the final. The 12-year old daughter of a Mathematician was described by her mother, Funmi Ekoko, as very diligent.
TunmiseIdowu on her own part remained the revelation of this year’s competition because of her new record of 17/60 seconds in the preliminary battle.
Taiwo Adeyemi is resolute and has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, according to her father, Adegoke Adeyemi. “She is our teacher at home,” he said.
The ultimate prize for this year’s edition is N1 million and an all-expense paid educational excursion outside the country. The teachers of the winning students will receive N400,000 each.
