Mathematics is very important to man because it is the foundation and the secret of development of man and society. This was the submission of Master David Olaiya a contestant in the on-going Season 5 of the Cowbellpedia Secondary Schools Mathematics Television Quiz Show sponsored by Cowbell Milk, the flagship brand of Promasidor Nigeria Limited.
Olaiya, who flew the flag of Loyola Jesuit Memorial College, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, explained to journalists outside the studio in Lagos last weekend that Mathematics helps one to think analytically about the world around us and have better reasoning abilities.
“Analytical and reasoning skills are important because they help us solve problems and look for solutions. It contains the secrets of life and living which is very important in everyday life as it provides us to do the calculations easily and correctly”, he said.
In the senior category preliminary Group E contest last weekend, Olaiya alongside Miss Favour Williams of Loyola College, Abuja cross the border line into the semi-final.
The feat by the duo left four of their colleagues stranded and out of contention. These include Babakura Zanna of Elkanemi College, Maiduguri, Borno State; Paul Iginla from Divine Covenant Academy, Igbogene- Yenegoa, Bayelsa State; Goodness Olarewaju of the Incubators Secondary, Kaduna, Kaduna State and Rilwan Najib of the Caliphate International School, Sokoto, Sokoto State
The junior category battle was not less exciting where Michael Enechizma, a student of Scholars Universal Secondary, Ota, Ogun State and Yakubu Yunusa of Nigerian Tulip International College, Yobe State emerged victorious.
Their counterparts who fell by the way side include Daniel Edeki from Gloryland Secondary School, Igarra, Edo State; Kaeto Ozioko of Marist Comprehensive College, Nteje-Awka, Anambra State and Musa Saadu, a student of International Secondary School, Atbu, Bauchi State.
Enechizma, who scored 125 points after the two rounds to advance, prays for more grace and speed in the battle ahead so as to realise his ambition of emerging as the 2019 champion.
The quiz show which will run for 13 weeks is divided into nine preliminary stages and three semi-finals before the grand finale in November 2019. The organisers also promised that this year’s edition would be more educative and fun-filled as Cowbellpedia is committed to “nurturing great inventors”.
Aside the N2 million grand prize, Managing Director of Promasidor Nigeria Limited, Mr. Anders Einarsson disclosed that the winner in each of categories, (junior and senior) will enjoy an all-expense paid educational excursion outside the country at the end of the initiative.
In addition, the first and second runners-up in each category will receive N1.5 million and N1 million respectively, while the teachers of the top prize winners will be awarded N500, 000. Those of the first and second runners-up will receive N400, 000 and N300, 000 respectively.
The 2019 edition of Cowbellpedia Secondary Schools Mathematic TV Quiz continues this weekend. It will be aired on DSTV Africa Magic Family Channel, AIT Network and other six television stations across the country.
