Meet the 3 Brilliant Young Nigerians Representing the Country at the International STEM Olympiad in Rome

Three young Nigerians are in Rome this week representing their country at the 2026 International STEM Olympiad, going up against students from 154 other countries in the mathematics and science categories. Their names are Chimdiebube Onwubiko, Don Anele Munachimso Marvelous, and Egejurum Onyedikachi Ethan, and before you even get to what they are doing in Italy, what they have already achieved at home tells you everything about why they are there.

Chimdiebube Onwubiko, a student at Evergreen Schools in Enugu, is described as the best mathematician in Nigeria at the junior secondary level. He has completed K.A. Stroud’s Engineering Mathematics, a university-level textbook, cover to cover, more than once. Don Anele Munachimso Marvelous, from Diamond Special College in Owerri, is one of the most decorated young students in Nigeria right now. He was the best Chemistry student in the country in the IGCSE, won the ₦5 million star prize as the overall best at the 2026 South East Maths Olympiad, took first position nationally at the National Mathematics Competition in Abuja, and has been awarded a $100,000 scholarship to study in Canada. His teammate Egejurum Onyedikachi Ethan is currently in Primary 6 and holds the title of the best primary school mathematician in Nigeria, having won the primary category of the 2026 South East Maths Olympiad.

The three students arrived in Rome on Thursday, 2 July, alongside their teachers, Chisom Unachukwu and Anthony Iwegbu, with all expenses covered by Alex Onyia, CEO of Educare and a passionate advocate for children’s education in Nigeria. According to Onyia, students trained by Chisom Unachukwu swept the first, second, and third positions at the 2026 South East Maths Olympiad—and there is barely a mathematics competition in Nigeria where his pupils do not finish in the top three.

The students have already sat their competition papers, and the results will be announced at the award ceremony on Tuesday, 7 July. Onyia, who personally funded the entire trip, is not hiding his expectations. “I will continue to push our bright minds to global stages,” he said. “In 10 years, I pray you will be alive to see the outcome of our investments in our children today.”

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Photo Credit: Alex Onyia/X

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