The world has come to witness the exceptional intelligence from Nigeria, and this was proven when Emmanuella Mayaki, a 13-year-old from the United Kingdom with Nigerian parents, made history by becoming one of the youngest people accepted into a top university in the U.S.
Her passion for computers began at just 7 but has since mastered desktop publishing basics such as Microsoft Word and Corel Draw; all part of her immense journey to pursue Computer Science in a Program for the Exceptionally Gifted (PEG) at Mary Baldwin University. This truly illustrates the wealth of diverse talent prospering from Nigeria.
Her exceptional dedication to expanding her knowledge base led her to take advantage of numerous free courses offered by online learning sites like SoloLearn and Udemy. She had gained a vast knowledge in computer programming languages from HTML fundamentals to SQL fundamentals, Java programming, Javascript tutorial, JQuery tutorial and Logic Building.
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By 11 years old, her passion for computers eventually spurred her to set up an ICT Academy for young girls in Abuja, Nigeria in 2020. She aptly named this academy CodeKid, where young girls get to learn from basic computer skills like Word, Excel and PowerPoint to even more complex ones like WordPress development, Graphics design, JavaScript, PHP, MySQL, HTML, CSS, Python and Java.
Emmanuella was even offered a teaching job to share her ICT skills at Southfields Primary School in Coventry, England. This stellar success was followed by several other recognitions of her achievements: She was nominated to be featured in Microsoft’s Legacy Project Virtual Museum’s Women’s History Month Experience, identified as one of the UK’s most influential female change-makers and featured at CBBC’s My Life series on International Women’s Day.
Impressed with her story, STEM Kids New York City also honored her with a nomination as a STEM icon in May 2022. It is clear that Emmanuella Mayaki has truly proven herself to be an exceptional trailblazer and an inspiration for many.
