Efe Okade says that her daughter really started to show a knack for math at the age of 4, when she was already a wiz at algebra and quadratic equations. She told the Daily Mail:
“By the time she was four I had taught her the alphabet, her numbers, and how to add, subtract, multiply and division.I saw that she loved patterns so developed a way of using that to teach her new things. I thought I would try her with algebra, and she loved it more than anything.”
She wrote her first Math GSCE exam, a British high school qualification, at just six, where she received a C-grade. A year later, she outdid herself and got the A-grade she wanted. Then in 2014, she scored a B-grade when she wrote the Math A-level exam.
At the time of enrollment, Esther said:
“I want to (finish the course) in two years. I actually wanted to start when I was seven. But my mum was like, “you’re too young, calm down.” So I’m going to do my PhD in financial maths when I’m 13. I want to have my own bank by the time I’m 15 because I like numbers and I like people and banking is a great way to help people.”
Now 12 years old, and really close to realizing her dream of completing her course, Esther is still top of her class at University and she says of her classes:
“It’s so interesting. It has the type of maths I love. It’s real maths — theories, complex numbers, all that type of stuff. It is super easy”
Besides becoming one of the youngest college students in history, Esther is also writing a series of math workbooks for kids called Yummy Yummy Algebra. Esther explained the series to CNN:
“It starts at a beginner level — that’s volume one. But then there will be volume two, and volume three, and then volume four. But I’ve only written the first one.As long as you can add or subtract, you’ll be able to do it. I want to show other children they are special”.
Esther also told CNN about her dream of opening a bank.
“I want to (finish the course) in two years. Then I’m going to do my PhD in financial maths when I’m 13. I want to have my own bank by the time I’m 15 because I like numbers and I like people and banking is a great way to help people.”
However, popular commentator and Head of Digital Communication for President Buhari, Tolu Ogunlesi in a tweet which has gone viral has said he doesn’t see anything worth celebrating about this, asking what a 13-year-old would be doing with a PhD.
