SPOTLIGHT: Meet the Adamu’s family of mathematicians

Adamu Ibrahim, a Borno indigene, and his six children, have gained fame in a slum within the state, where they use mathematical skills to change the story of their lots.

In a locality known as Anguwan Bauchi, Adamu and his nerdy children, who have earned local and international accolades, run an informal training centre famed for producing maths geniuses.

According to a ChannelsTV documentary, they had set up a makeshift centre within a garage to teach out-of-school kids, some of whom thereafter won competitions and abroad scholarships.

Within the garage, an array of medals and certificates from global competitions are put in display while about six kids from the suburb were said to have gained grants to study outside the country.

Adamu, who was said to be the brain behind the decade-old centre, is reported to have been an Olympiad champion back in the 1980s, with his children exhibiting traits like himself.

Yusuf Adamu, the youngest of the family, who also tutors at the learning centre, has participated in and won several maths competitions, some of which also include The Olympiads and Cowbell.

Other platforms wherein he also competed include the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the American Mathematics Competition where he won a gold medal in 2015.

“Actually, I don’t sleep at night. From eight to four, I study. Then I sleep until another time, say 1 pm. When I wake up at 1 pm, I continue to study,” said Yusuf, 18.

Ismail Adamu, Yusuf’s elder brother, is also said to be currently studying on scholarship abroad and has been to a total of five countries across the globe taking part in mathematics competitions.

“For me, Mathematics is like a puzzle, which makes it really fun. In mathematics, everything can be proven with deductive reasoning,” Ismail, who also taught for free in the centre, said.

Adamu Ibrahim, while speaking on the family’s goals, said the skills of his children and those they have trained could lead the community out of poverty, so long as they achieve quality education.

“I believe the only way, over time, we can be able to overcome this poverty is for these children to have a very good education so that they get a very good placement,” Ibrahim can be heard saying.

“And you will see the community will one day… I know it takes time, but somebody has to start it.”

Salisu Hassan, a parent, who is also a member of the community, said: We are happy because we have about six to five children schooling abroad because of this man’s contribution.”

However, the popular opinion has been that, perhaps, the makeshift school should be turned into a standard learning institute—having continued to churn out a generation of young eager minds.