A young Nigerian boy based in the United Kingdom, Chika Ofili, made a historical discovery in Mathematics by creating a new mathematical formula to make the study of mathematics easier to understand.
Chika’s discovery proved that, if one takes the last digit of any whole number, multiplies such by 5 and then adds the result to the remaining part of the number, you will get a whole new number. This new theory by the young smart Nigerian has been subjected to credible tests and it proved positive.
Chika’s Mathematics teacher, Miss Mary Ellis who doubles as the head of the Math department at Westminster Under School, revealed that he made the discovery during a holiday assignment. She added further that, she gave out a book-themed “First Steps for Problem Solvers” which contained several divisibility tests to check if numbers are divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 before completing full math problems.
According to her, Chika discovered a flaw in the book’s lack of a memorable test for dividing by 7 and went on to develop his own formula that best solves that problem. This significant contribution to STEM has earned him a TruLittle Hero Award in the United Kingdom. Apart from the award, the young genius was asked to demonstrate his discovery in front of the entire school faculty, which he did flawlessly.
There are many young African children like Chika out there. How can we identify and capitalise on these brilliant potentials to help the continent develop?
