Lagos — Prof. Sam Ale, Director-General of the National Mathematical Centre (NMC), Abuja recently spoke to Education Correspondents, including Juliana Taiwo, on the standard of Mathematics, translation of Mathematics textbooks into local languages, negative perception of mathematics, endowment fund for the centre, the God Almighty Grand Unified Theorem (GAGUT), among others.

Sir, what have been the achievements of the National Mathematical Centre (NMC) since inception?

Thank you very much for that question. I am glad to let you know that the centre has achieved a lot. The innovative programmes being carried out by the centre have led to it been recognised internationally as a centre of excellence in the field of mathematical sciences, which, hopefully will soon make Nigeria technologically great.

The centre's programmes are being executed from the grassroots. For example, we sent out over 20 staff of the centre to 10 states of the country to distribute mathematics books to primary school teachers and pupils. We went to 228 schools in the 10 states. We are starting from the primary school or rather grassroots so as to allay the fears of people in mathematics. We want to promote the programme of demystifying mathematics and through the assistance of the World Bank and the Universal Basic Education (UBE), we were able to get funds to buy the about 27, 360 books valued at over N8 million which was distributed to ensure that mathematics becomes easier and interesting to learn.

In the past weeks we have organised two seminars in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). We have some activities planned for this year and by the grace of God, we shall partner with about six universities for our Joint Higher Degree Programme. The National Universities Commission (NUC) is cooperating with us in this area and some other organisations are trying to finance this lofty and important programme that will enable us to offer Post-Graduate, Doctorate and other degrees in the discipline of mathematics that are currently available in our universities.

How far have you gone with the N2.3billion endowment fund for the centre?

We must first be grateful to the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero who spearheaded the whole idea and the great support he has given us. When you set out to do a launching, you aim very high and I must say we have been able to do quite a lot from the launching.

We have got the cooperation of some organisations. For instance, the Nigeria Maritime Authority (NMA) gave us N10 million towards the "Joint Higher Degree Programme". The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory has promised to sink a borehole and do water-regulation, as well as build a clinic and a road in the centre.

The Raw Material Research and Development Council (RMRDC) have just given us some N5 million for research in collaboration with them. Others are also fulfilling their pledges. We have started building our Computer Centre, even the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), gave us N25 million to organise Mathematics Incentives scheme, aimed at encouraging the young ones in mathematics and mathematical sciences. This is going to be an annual event. The Education Trust Fund (ETF) has also contributed to our mathematics library.

I will like to say that the endowment is not all about money, we have 13 projects and I am glad to say that something is happening to each one of them. For example the books that we have distributed to the 228 primary schools was part of the 13 projects. We were able to get the UBE and the World Bank to give us a little support because part of the project was to complete these textbooks and distribute them to schools. For the 'Mathematics by Television' project, a committee has been set up to strategise how people can learn mathematics through the television.

How many personnel has the centre trained so far?

I cannot say the particular number, but from 1989 to 2002 we have 87 foundation post -graduate courses, 17 research oriented courses and five national mathematics summit. We have trained over 1000 Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education lecturers for their post-graduate works. We have awarded post structural research grants in various areas of mathematical sciences and we are going to the stage where we will be awarding Ph.Ds in mathematics and other mathematical sciences instead of going abroad.

What is your comment on the recent world ranking of 200 institutions without any African university making the list?

Yes, the NUC published the list of 200 universities said to be the best in the world. I saw it and felt very bad but I am glad to let you know that in the world, there are 13 Centres of Excellence in mathematics and mathematical sciences and I can tell you that the National Mathematical Centre is one of the centres of excellence in mathematical sciences. At least, if we are not able to make one of the best 200 universities in the world, we are among the best 13 Centres in mathematical sciences in the world. As I am saying, it is only brilliant Professors that will be allowed to teach in the center's programmes and we have listed 57 Professors that will come from other parts of the world to train our students.

We must look beyond the ranking. One of the problems we are having is the lecturers in our universities. How many mathematics professors do we have in each university? Maybe the highest you will be five compared to our Centres that have enlisted 57 Professors of mathematics! Why will such a centre not be a centre of excellence? By the grace of God, by the time we are able to get some Noble Prize Winners maybe we shall be on the list. If you take note of the university that came first in the ranking, that is Harvard University, it has produced about 40 Nobel Prize winners and 44 Pulitzer Prize winners while we may say that Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife has produced one in the person of Prof. Wole Soyinka. We are proud of that but by the grace of God in the coming years, we are going to produce more Nobel Prize winners then our ranking may come up.

What is your opinion about the level of performance of students in mathematics in the country?

It will take some years to be able to measure that because we have operated mostly at the high level in the past. Now we are coming down and for the first time, the NMC through the Mathematics/Science Education Programme went to distribute books to primary schools. This is to see that from the foundation, we encourage the students to like mathematics. If we can continue to do this, the measure will come up. Our aim is to see that there is continued improvement and good performance in mathematics at NECO, WASCE, and JAMB etc. We have not been able to visit any school to measure this and I cannot say whether tperformances have improved or not.

What should be the recommended standard of mathematics in the country?

I will want to say that all over the world there is this fear of low performance in mathematics. Even if you go to America or Europe some people there are still afraid of mathematics. It is seen as a terrible subject all over the world and mathematics teachers have not been able to break the jinx attached to the subject. I am happy that the government has set up the Centre with the mandate that mathematics must be demystified not only at the top level but also from the grassroots. So our usual top-to-top approach to mathematics teaching is being changed to bottom to top.

We have created more departments, we have enlarged our centre and I believe that in a short time the impact will be felt and the perception of Nigerian towards mathematics will change. We are trying to train teachers, we are trying to improve and teach ICT; and I want to tell you that the NMC will improve the standard of mathematics in Nigeria.There is no going back on that.

In what way will the NMC demystify the subject?

We are poised to change the abstract nature of mathematics. We already have what we call 'mathematical games' with it you can be playing games and learning mathematics. If you come to the centre you will see the gadgets that we have devised to make mathematics interesting and allay the fears that trail it but we need the media to help us defuse the notion that mathematics is difficult which is the bane of the development of mathematical sciences for technological development of the country. For example, when I went for a programme at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in Kuru, Jos, a friend of mine, after two-weeks came to tell me that he has been observing me for the period because he believed that all 'mathematicians are mad people', but that after observing that I am sane, he has erased that perception from his mind.

The centre is doing all things possible to portray mathematics as an interesting subject, it is not only mathematics, we are also going to go into Physics because it is part of the mathematical sciences and the ICT. As I have said, this year, you will see the centre running many workshops; the Minister has approved the establishment of our Consultancy Unit. Through it, we will be doing a lot of courses in different parts of the country through which we will encourage people to love mathematics

How far has the centre gone about the mandate to translate mathematics textbooks into Nigerian languages?

So far we have not done anything yet but we will start by translating our teaching modules and workbooks, especially the workbooks into the Nigerian languages because we have produced them from primary one to six. With the policy to teach children in the local languages, we are going to translate for those in primary one to three with the assistance of the World Bank and the Universal Basic Education (UBE).

When will work commence on Musa Yar'Adua Computer village?

The Musa Yar'Adua Computer Village is still on. So far we have collected about N10 million from those who promised to endow the village. We wanted to create a computer village that will gulp about N400 million, because it will have a computer laboratory, it was planned to have everything that is needed in such a place; it was to be an ICT village!

We are however grateful to the Vice President because even the N10 million we got, about N9 million came from him and his associates as was promised during the endowment. We are still expecting more and immediately we get enough money we will start building the village.

What is the centre doing to encourage more women to study mathematics?

Many years ago I was familiar with Prof. Grace Alele-Williams, and as at that time when a study was carried out on women in mathematics, we found out that women were really few in the field, but today we have about three Professors of mathematics who are women! It was erroneously regarded that mathematics was a masculine subject not suitable for women, that was a wrong notion, even in my school days it was same but I thank God that is changing because even in last mathematics incentive scheme competition, the person who came third in the secondary school category was a lady from Ondo. If a woman can come third in that competition then the notion that mathematics is a masculine subject should be changed.

When will the centre start awarding the degrees as approved by the last National Council on Education in Minna?

I will like to answer that question as way of pointing out how Nigerian universities can come to be ranked among the 200 best universities in the world. With this new innovation of collaborating with universities to award degrees, I can assure you that we are on our way. What we are doing now is to collaborate with six other universities to start these degree programmes, but of course we want to the National Council on Education (NCE) to be well prepared. We had prepared our curriculum, we have already met with the professors that will teach these courses but as is required for any degree course, the National Universities Commission (NUC) must give approval for it to start running. The moment this is done, we hope to start the programme. We are just trying to follow the due process as you may say. The NUC has assured us that before March this year, all the due process required would have been completed, so by then the Masters and Ph.Ds programmes would have started.

We however, hope to have become independent before the next three years because right now we will be running it in conjunction with six universities. For instance we will run the Financial Mathematics with the University of Abuja (UNIABUJA), Mathematics in Biomedicine with the University of Jos (UNIJOS), Mathematical Ecology with Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATB), Mathematical Education and ICT with the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Mathematics in Maritime Technology with Federal University of Technology(FUTO) while Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) will handle Information Theory and Communication Technology.

What is your view on the GAGUT Theory by Prof. Oyibo?

We are very glad for the GAGUT Theory of Prof. Gabriel Oyibo and the way he went round the country to propagate the Theory and I am glad also that the Nigerian Academy of Science has set up an expert group to investigate the claim. Before Prof. Oyibo came to Nigeria, we wrote him to come to NMC; the centre of excellence in mathematical sciences and defend his theory as well as give talks on some of his other theories. Our desire was to gather the Professors of mathematics and physics of this country together so that they can critically look at the work but the NUC; of course had money and brought him in.

I remember that during the university fair event in Abuja, the Minister of Education, Prof. Fabian Osuji directed the NUC that Prof. Oyibo should visit the Centre, where he would have faced the mathematicians of the country. When you have a Theory, once you have a finding, you must be able to defend it before experts. Unfortunately it was not possible but we are still waiting for him to come and defend the theory before the mathematical community and the physicists of the country because we invited him to come even while he was still in the US. This is because it is before your colleagues that you will be able to defend your work more, we hope that even if it is not now, we will continue to press for it and I know he will also want to come forward and defend it.

At the just concluded universities fair, the centre won the prize for inter-university center, what will you do with the N1million prize?

It is not surprising because the Centre is truly the best in the country. If you know the history of the Centre, then you cannot compare us with any other centre in the country. However, we are yet to collect the money but I can assure you that once the money is released, you will know because we will use it to encourage people to learn mathematics. As you know, there are lot of things we are doing at the centre that will make N1million be like a drop of water in the ocean but that notwithstanding, we will make good use of it when it comes.

What are the obstacles militating against the NMC ?

Some of our setbacks? Well, one would have expected us to have established the 'Mathematics Improvement Project' in all the states but unfortunately we have not been able to establish in many states as we ought to have done. Why? Of course when the money is not there, there is not much we can do. The funding we are receiving is a bit low, because of that we have been able to establish the Mathematics Improvement Project in only two states which have contributed.

As you know, the programme was designed to improve the very poor performance in school mathematics and to have national impact with astounding effects on grassroots focus delivery based on 50 per cent counterparts funding from each party, i.e. Federal and State Governments. When we mention the project to the State Governors, they will say yes they like it but the procedure of releasing funds is not as easy as that and until we get money, we cannot do much. For now it is only Plateau and Katsina States can boast of being the pioneering states as their centres are now fully established and functional. We do hope that other Governors will brace up to ensure that their own centres are established this year.