Imo Schoolboy Wins Primary Category of South East Mathematics Olympiad 2026, Gets N2m Prize
- A pupil of Diamond Special College, Owerri, Imo State, has won the primary category of the 2026 South East Mathematics Olympiad
- The brilliant lad defeated pupils from other southeastern states, scoring 13 points from an available 15 to go home with the star prize of N2 million
- The 2026 South East Maths Olympiad grand finale, which was held on March 7, also recorded winners in the junior and senior secondary school categories
Egejurum Onyedikachi, a pupil of Diamond Special College, Owerri, Imo State, has emerged the winner of the 2026 edition of the South East Mathematics Olympiad, primary school category.
This was confirmed on X on March 7 by Alex Onyia, an education activist who was one of the sponsors of the competition.
Source: Twitter
Imo schoolboy defeats pupils from other states
According to Alex, Onyedikachi scored a total of 13 points from an available 15 to win the competition, while pupils from Anambra and Enugu came in second and third places, respectively.
Alex's tweet read:
"IMO State won the Primary Category with 13 points over 15 available points.
"His name is Egejurum Onyedikachi from Diamond Special College, Owerri Imo State.
"Anambra and Enugu took second position.
"These questions were very tough."
Celebrating the Imo schoolboy, an X influencer, @OurFavOnlineDoc, shared Onyedikachi's picture and video, calling on netizens to make him famous.
Legit.ng learnt that the grand finale of the 2026 South East Mathematics Olympiad was held on March 7, with winners also emerging in the junior and senior secondary schools categories.
The competition was presented by the Intervention for South East Education and received numerous donations from well-meaning individuals who keyed into the project.
While Onyedikachi won N2 million in the primary category, the winners in the junior and senior secondary categories went home with N3 million and N5 million, respectively.
Source: Twitter
See Alex Onyia's tweet below:
South East Maths Olympiad: People commend boy
Legit.ng has compiled some reactions to the boy's win below:
@alexianho said:
"Congratulations to him. You can tell he is well fed. This one no sell pure water before him chop and doesn't have a reason not to do well in academics. Regardless, it's not easy to win over 11k persons. He deserves to be famous."
@ugo_mabel said:
"When someone was hyping Enugu, I just dey laugh. Is either Imo or Anambra first or second. Then others follow. It use to be Imo first, before Peter Obi happened, and education system in Anambra changed for good."
@ivubadinma said:
"He is very smart! I was just smiling listening to him on Afia TV. Meanwhile, he didn't come first out of the 11,500 participants. All the categories of (Primary, Junior and Senior) made up the 11,500 participants. The primary category is one of the categories & less than 11,500."
@zoeymetax said:
"Diamond Special College producing a diamond. Egejurum Onyedikachi winning the Southeast Maths Olympiad out of 11,500 students is the kind of story Nigeria needs to tell loudly and repeatedly. Excellence exists. Celebrate it."
@MeduguOS said:
"The School actually took 1st in both the Primary and Senior Secondary categories."
@CAspirewealth said:
"This is the kind of news that deserves to go global. To beat out over 11,000 peers in a Maths Olympiad at the primary level is legendary behaviour. The future of STEM in Nigeria is looking very bright with minds like Onyedikachi leading the way. Let’s make him famous!"
In a related story, Legit.ng reported that an Enugu boy who participated in a mathematics olympiad had won a scholarship worth N21 million.
Boy wins N24m after mathematics Olympiad performance
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that a boy had won a scholarship worth N24 million after coming tops in a mathematics competition.
According to education activist Alex Onyia, who shared the good news on X, the boy won a scholarship worth N24 million.
He identified the boy as Agu Chijindu, noting that he won the Evergreen Schools Enugu Annual Mathematics Olympiad Competition.
Source: Legit.ng
