Global Mathematics Icon, Master Uwakmfon Unwana Jacob, celebrates 15 years birthday
Master Uwakmfon Unwana Jacob, an indigene of Ikono Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State was born on 7th December, 2007. He is a passionate problem solver and a multiple mathematics contests’ award winner nationally and internationally having bagged over twenty eight (28) medals between 2020 to 2022.
In Senior Secondary One (Grade 10), Uwakmfon represented Nigeria in Pan African Mathematics Olympiad in June 2022 at Morocco, came out with a gold medal, a rare feat for an SS1 student. Prior to 2022 PAMO, Nigeria got a gold medal over five years ago by an SS3 student. Uwakmfon is a national awardee of Nigerian, Ghanaian and South African Mathematics Olympiads. He has won other several mathematics’ medals in USA, Canada, Europe, Indonesia and Germany.
Some of his recent awards are:
1. Best in Africa at the Instagram Mathematics Olympiad (IGMO), July 2022.
2. Gold medalist at the 29th Pan African Mathematics Olympiad, Morocco, June, 2022.
3. Digital Silver medalist at I-STEM Mathematics Olympiad, Germany (1st position in Global ranking in the first round, & 20th in the second round), 2022.
4. International students Honor Roll at the Cayley Math Contest organized by University of Waterloo, Canada, (Top 0.12% of students or 21st out of 17,899 Participants), 2022.
5. Individual Test Distinguished Honorable Mention at the Stanford Math Tournament, (Top 20%) organized by Stanford University, USA, 2022.
6. Merit awardee at the Indonesian International Mathematics Olympiad, 2-6 July 2022.
7. The only Nigerian High School student admitted into the 2022 edition of the World Science Scholar program organized by Nobel Laureates in Physics and Mathematics New York, USA.
8. Best in Nigeria at the American Mathematics Contest (AMC 12) held in November, 2022.
His Excellency, Governor Udom Emmanuel at the 35th Akwa Ibom state banquet recognized Master Uwakmfon and attested that, Uwakmfon is a man to beat anytime, any day in Mathematics.
It is a well -known saying that, “all works and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. Thus, Uwakmfon engages in hobbies like football, swimming and listening to gospel music when he is not with his books.Nigerians are eagerly waiting for the day that the Federal Government or the Minister for Education would recognize and celebrate Master Uwakmfon for bringing this great honour to the entire country especially during the 2022 Pan African Mathematics Olympiad (PAMO) in June 2022 just as Miss Tobi was celebrated for her great strides in sport.
We implore the Federal Government to grant Uwakmfon a full scholarship for studies in tertiary institutions like MIT, Stanford and CALTECH from first degree to the PhD level as a means of encouraging other young Nigerians.
