The National Mathematical Centre (NMC) was established by Decree no 40, 1989 now Act, CAP N58, 2004, to among others, train and develop high level of personnel in Mathematical Sciences, create a resource Centre to serve National and International communities (and provide for other ancillary thereto) as a focal point for advanced research and training in mathematical Sciences and applications.

The Centre is also mandated to identify and encourage young talents, stimulate enthusiasm among young Nigerian students and attract distinguished mathematical scientists, from all over the world, to enable it tackle national set goals in the development of mathematical sciences. The Centre is an Inter-University Centre of Mathematical Sciences.

As an inter-University Centre, the NMC occupies a special place in the Nigerian Education system with a unique role of inter-relating with all Universities and other tertiary institutions.

ACTIVITIES OF NMC
In line with the Act establishing the Centre, the activities are as categorized below.

These include:

Advance Research
This entails:

Trending researches in the core academic programmes (Mathematics, Computer science, Statistics, Theoretical Physics and Mathematical science education) of the Centre, leading to publication in reputable high-fly journals, with high impact factor (Quartile journals);
Research proposals on contemporary issues that are internationally competitive;
Seeking Mathematical solutions to some national challenges in the area of economy, agriculture, environment, health, etc.
High level research-oriented lectures organized by invited distinguished Professors aimed at opening up researchable areas and throwing up research questions and
Academic oriented Conferences, workshops, colloquia and Seminars.
Training and High-Level Manpower Development
These involve:

Foundation Postgraduate Courses targeted at Postgraduate Students, young lecturers at the universities and other tertiary institutions;
Graduate Foundation Courses, aimed at re-training graduate assistants and interested graduates with first Class or Second-Class Upper Division in Pure Mathematics towards developing and encouraging prospective academics particularly in the area of pure mathematics.
Higher Degree Training: This is a Postgraduate Degree training organized by University of Abuja in collaboration with NMC for the award of Post graduate Diploma’s and Master Degree’s in Financial Mathematics, Cloud Computing, Cyber Security and Statistics Education.
Refresher oriented workshops and symposia, targeted at employees in the public and private sector with the aim of improving skills, competences and updating knowledge.

Talent Hunt and Human Capacity Development
These involve:

Talent-hunt within Nigerian Universities: This is carried out by organizing National
Mathematics Competition for Undergraduate students (NAMCUS) with CGPA of 3.5 and above who are in their final year, for the purpose of generating their interest in the learning of Mathematics towards getting support for further studies. This is also done for some other areas of the Mathematical Sciences at the centre (Statistics and Computer Science). The competition affords the student the opportunity to participate at the international competition.

These competitions help the Centre to identify the areas of deficiencies in the critical courses in the Nigerian University System.

It also helps the Centre to identify the Universities that are comparatives competitive nationally.

Talent-hunt at the secondary school level: This is carried out under the international Mathematical/Sciences Olympiads. It is an established fact that Olympiad competitions are veritable tools for identifying young talents. Its objectives include:

  • Improving the performance of students in Mathematics and Mathematical Sciences.
  • Stimulating and developing interest of students in Mathematics and Mathematical Sciences.
  • Exposing young talent to international community, thereby opening them to greater opportunities
    The Centre has put in place, various competitive incentive schemes, as a strategy to further encourage and popularize Mathematics at the secondary school level. These include the enrolment of Nigeria in International Mathematical and Sciences Olympiad, namely, the Pan African Mathematical Olympiad (PAMO), the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), the International Physics Olympiad (IPho), International Olympiad in informatics (IOI), etc. Many young Nigerians have been offered admissions to class Universities with full scholarships, some of who are funded by the Nigeria Government (through Federal Scholarship Board)

Outreach Activities and Instructional Materials
These activities include:

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) project: NMC has been at the forefront in the implementation of the Federal government policy on the improvement of teaching and learning of Mathematics in the country through the use of Chinese Mental Arithmetic Abacus and different innovations and strategies in the teaching and learning of mathematics.
Consultancy: NMC Global Services Consultancy Ltd is a registered limited liability company (with CAC), an outfit aimed at generating internal revenue and headed by a General Manager.
The International Model Science Academy (IMSA): This is a fully self-funding secondary school owned by NMC. It was established primarily for the purpose of testing the validity and reliability of the resource materials produced by the Centre. The aim of the Academy is to produce students with scientific background who will in term help to improve the technological base of the Nation. It will also provide the desired platform for training of the Country representatives to International Olympiad competitions.
DEPARTMENTS TO IMPLEMENT
To achieve the above mandate and activities, NMC was structured into the following programmes/Departments:

These include:

Mathematics Programme
Statistics Programme
Computer Science Programme
Theoretical Physics Programme
Mathematical Sciences Education Programme