First, second and third: Lagos schoolgirls sweep the podium in Nigeria's national maths contest for girls

The preliminary selection for Nigeria's National Mathematics Competition for the Girl Child has produced a result worth framing: students from Lagos State's Education District IV took first, second and third place. Ekemezie Divine Gift of Lagos Progressive Junior High School came first, Salami Rodiat Ajoke of Aguda Community Junior School second, and Adebayo Taiwo Hassanat of Adebola Baptist Junior High School third — earning the trio the right to represent Lagos State at the national finals in November. The same district's students also placed from second to eighth in the Kidemia STEAM Young Innovation Challenge. Their Tutor-General, Olufemi Bamidele Paseda, credited the girls' hard work and their teachers' collective effort. A podium sweep does not fix everything about girls' access to advanced maths — but it does give every younger girl watching a very specific picture of who belongs at the top of a maths competition: someone exactly like her.

SDG 4 · Quality education — Mechanism: institutional program