News
went viral yesterday that a Nigerian 'math genius' has solved a 156-year-old
math problem thereby leading him to be awarded a prize money of about N200
million.
According
to reports, Dr. Opeyemi Enoch of Federal University, Oye Ekiti, Ekiti State,
made history by providing proof for the old Riemann Hypothesis. The British
media first reported this and the news was shared excitedly among Nigerians.
It
has now been revealed that this news might have been untrue.
The
Riemann Hypothesis, first proposed by German mathematician Bernhard Riemann in
1859, is one of seven Millennium problems presented by the Clay Mathematics
Institute with a $1 million reward for solving each one.
According
to Quartz Africa, the British media, including the BBC and the Daily Telegraph
ran a story that Enoch won this award, but when contacted, US-based Clay
Mathematics Institute, refused to confirm this story.
When
Quartz Africa visit the institute's website to take a look at the status of the
Millennium problems, only the Poincare Conjecture, solved by Grigoriy Perelman
in 2003, is listed as solved. All the other six problems, including the Riemann
Hypothesis, remain listed as unsolved.
Enoch,
during an interview with BBC, revealed that he got the inspiration to take a
chance on the problem when some of his students brought it to him with the hope
of making $1 million “off the Internet.”
“Those
my students trusted that the solution could come from me,” he said. He said he
was motivated by their trust, “not because of the financial reward.”
It
was reported that Enoch has web page where the proof of his solution to
the Riemann Hypothesis was published,
but on a closer look, it was found that the proof was plagiarized
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