Three young Nigerians have brought honour to the country after winning gold medals at the Grand Finale of the International STEM Olympiad held in Rome, Italy.
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‎The outstanding achievement was announced on Tuesday by education advocate and Educare CEO, Alex Onyia, who sponsored the students’ participation after they emerged among the best performers at the Southeast Mathematics Olympiad.
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‎Initially, Onyia revealed that Chimdiebube Onwubiko and Don Anele Munachimso had secured gold medals. He later confirmed that Egejurum Onyedikachi was also awarded a gold medal, while Don Anele claimed a second gold in the Science category, making him the world’s best science student in the competition.
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‎According to Onyia, Egejurum emerged as the world’s best in the Primary Mathematics category, describing the feat as the beginning of greater achievements for Nigeria.
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‎The International STEM Olympiad, hosted at the Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, featured Mathematics and Science contests involving participants from more than 150 countries. Images from the event showed the Nigerian students proudly receiving their medals on stage.
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‎The victorious team comprised 11-year-old Egejurum Onyedikachi, 13-year-old Chimdiebube Onwubiko and 17-year-old Don Anele Munachimso. They qualified for the global competition after excelling at the Southeast Mathematics Olympiad, which attracted over 11,500 participants from across the region.
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‎Following their qualification, Onyia funded their registration, visas, flights, accommodation and other travel expenses, enabling them to represent Nigeria in Rome alongside their teachers in the primary, junior and senior categories.
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‎Before the competition, Onyia had described Don Anele as one of Nigeria’s brightest science students, noting that he was already recognised as the country’s best IGCSE Chemistry student. He also expressed confidence that young Egejurum could achieve an exceptional performance in Mathematics.
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‎During the event, Egejurum voluntarily competed in the Science category despite having no prior preparation, with Onyia expressing hope that the young prodigy would secure two gold medals.
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‎The students’ success comes at a time when concerns have been raised over Nigeria’s declining participation in major international academic competitions. Recently, the country was reduced to observer status at the 2026 International Mathematical Olympiad in Shanghai after years of non-participation due to funding constraints.
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‎The Rome triumph has, however, demonstrated the impact of private sponsorship in supporting gifted Nigerian students to compete internationally.
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‎With the latest performance, Team Nigeria finished the Olympiad with four gold medals. Don Anele Munachimso claimed two gold medals, including the world title in Science, while Egejurum Onyedikachi emerged the world’s best in Primary Mathematics. Chimdiebube Onwubiko also secured a gold medal, completing an impressive outing for the Nigerian delegation.