MEET THE 10 YEAR OLD NIGERIAN GIRL WHO GOT ADMITTED INTO A UNIVERSITY!

Finally! Something new, exciting and uplifting to talk about besides Nigeria's spirit-dampening political chaos. I was really excited and super impressed when I read this piece of news. Now we have something nice being linked to us for once. A Nigerian girl is doing us proud! Oh well, she's more British than Nigerian but hey we have a share in this glory right?

Esther

So Esther Okade is a 10 year old girl who has just been accepted to study a Maths degree in a university even though she doesn't attend a regular school. Yes, she's TEN and home-schooled!

Esther and her younger brother Isiah

At age six, Esther made a C grade in her maths GCSE and her younger brother Isiah is already studying for his A-levels -also aged six! Both of them are home-schooled by their mother, Omonefe, who says she had to convert their living room into a makeshift classroom.

Mrs okade, a mathematician herself, said that by the time Esther was four she had taught her how to add, subtract, multiply and divide. Since she loved patterns, she also developed new ways of teaching her using that. According to her, by the time she taught her algebra, Esther loved it more than anything else and by age seven, she was eager to go to university. She eventually let her apply to the Open University last year August. After a phone interview, an essay and an exam , she was finally accepted onto the course. She is already topping her class, scoring 100% in a recent test.

According to the genius Esther, she wants to study for a PHD after this, run her own bank and become a millionaire! WHAT??!!!! Now I am ashamed of the things I dreamt of when I was her age. lol. Big dreams I tell you and to think that some of us do not even dare to dream at all. If this doesn't challenge or motivates you, I don't know what else will.

Since this news broke out, there has been mixed reactions. Some think it is brilliant thing and cool while others think that she will loose her childhood. However, according to Esther's parents, she will be attending university from home so that they can keep a close eye on her, make sure she enjoys being a child and maths at the same time.

Esther and her Mum

I am well aware that there are different types of maturity and I was curious to find out which one Esther possesses. My little research taught me that she had the COGNITIVE or INTELLECTUAL MATURITY that is unusually above her age grade. "This refers to the lifelong growth of abstract reasoning skills. Cognitive maturity means the capacity to entertain intangible ideas, like complex algebra for example and to grasp complex concepts like the convergent causes of the Civil War." (Click HERE for more information) 

I know psychologists will have a thousand and one things to say about how fast she is growing but I do believe that being in a suitable environment and with the right support, she will be able to go through the other phases of maturity and will not loose out on anything.

 Reading a lot of negative comments about this makes me sad. I consider her brilliant child a genius who has great potentials and I see  her taking big strides just like the Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg of our time. So let us celebrate something good and throw out the negativity!

One thing I have learnt from this is that parents need to pay close attention to their kids to be able to understand their capabilities at any given time .

Once again, Congratulations to Esther Okade, Nigeria is definitely proud of you and a big kudos to Mrs Okade for being such a brilliant teacher!






***Most of the information used in this article was culled from I MUST TALK