Admission at thirteen
In November 2022 Vanguard reported that a 13-year-old Nigerian information technology prodigy had gained admission to an American university. The Guardian of Nigeria and the Nigerian Tribune carried the same story within days, and Legit.ng covered the public reaction.
The destination was Mary Baldwin University in Virginia, which runs one of the small number of American programmes that admit exceptionally gifted students to full university study well below the usual age. Her subject was computer science, which she had already been teaching for two years.
CodeKid
She founded CodeKid in Abuja in December 2020, an academy teaching information technology to children between six and 15. She was 11 at the time, which put her inside her own target age range.
That detail is the most interesting thing in her record. Most child prodigies in computing are described in terms of what they can build. Mayaki's documented achievement is pedagogical: she designed instruction for other children, at an age when she was one of them, and ran it as an institution rather than a club.
Coventry
Before the American admission, Vanguard reported that Southfields Primary School in Coventry, England, had offered her a teaching role at 11. A primary school proposing to employ an eleven-year-old to teach is unusual enough that it became the detail the Nigerian coverage led on.
The sources used here do not set out how long she was in Britain or in what capacity, which leaves a gap between the Abuja academy and the Coventry offer that the published record does not close.
The numbers, and a caveat
Legit.ng reported an SAT score of 1183 in connection with the admission. The scale quoted alongside it in the research record does not match the standard American SAT, which is marked out of 1600, so the figure is recorded here as reported rather than as verified.
That is the honest position. The admission itself is reported consistently across four Nigerian outlets; the test score attached to it is reported by one, with a scale that does not resolve cleanly.
Why teaching is the harder achievement
Learning to code young is now common. Curricula, free platforms and school programmes have made it possible for a determined child anywhere with a connection to reach a working standard by ten. What has not become common is the next step: organising that knowledge so that other children can acquire it, recruiting them, and sustaining the institution that does it.
That requires a different set of abilities from programming, and they are ones adults find difficult. Mayaki's academy served the age band she belonged to, in a city where computing instruction for children was scarce, and it operated as a going concern rather than a demonstration. Set against that, the university admission at 13 is the easier part of her record to explain and the less remarkable part of it.
Watch: Emmanuella Mayaki on camera
| Person | Country | Milestone | Age / Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ferdinand Maumo | Nigeria | Winning a chess tournament with a perfect score about a month after… | Age 10 |
| Emmanuella Mayaki | Nigeria | Founding the CodeKid IT academy in Abuja at 11 and gaining a US… | Age 11 |
| Deborah Quickpen | Nigeria | Nigerian women's national chess champion at 11 (2023) | Age 11 |
| Anthony Madu | Nigeria | The 2020 video of him dancing ballet in the rain in Lagos | Age 12 |
| Faith Odunsi | Nigeria | Winning the Global Open Mathematics Tournament at 15 | Age 15 |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- Founded the CodeKid IT academy in Abuja in December 2020, at 11, for children aged 6 to 15
- Reported as offered a teaching role by Southfields Primary School in Coventry at 11 (Vanguard)
- Gained admission at 13 in November 2022 to a US university programme for exceptionally gifted students, in computer science
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- The reported SAT figure is given on a scale that does not match the standard SAT
- How long she spent in Britain, and in what capacity, is not explained in these sources
- Nothing is documented about her studies or work after 2022
Questions people ask about Emmanuella Mayaki
How old is Emmanuella Mayaki?
She was born in 2009, which made her 11 when she founded CodeKid in December 2020 and 13 at the American university admission in November 2022.
What is CodeKid?
The information technology academy she founded in Abuja in December 2020, teaching children aged six to 15.
Which university admitted her?
Mary Baldwin University in Virginia, through its programme for exceptionally gifted students, to study computer science.
Did a school really offer her a teaching job at 11?
Vanguard reported that Southfields Primary School in Coventry, England, offered her a teaching role at 11. The sources used here do not set out the terms.
What was her SAT score?
Legit.ng reported 1183. The scale quoted alongside it does not match the standard 1600-point SAT, so the figure is recorded as reported rather than verified.
Where is Emmanuella Mayaki now?
No source used here documents her progress after the 2022 admission. Her degree and current work are not in this material.
Is Emmanuella Mayaki on Wikipedia?
No Wikipedia article on her was found. Her record rests on Nigerian news coverage from 2022.
What is her IQ?
No IQ figure for her appears in any source used here.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Emmanuella’s story?
What did Emmanuella Mayaki found at 11?
How old was she when a US university admitted her?
Which English school offered her a teaching role?
Sources
- 13-Year-Old ICT genius, Emmanuella gains admission to US university — Vanguard, 2022-11-06
- 13-year-old Nigerian ICT genius gains U.S. university admission — The Guardian Nigeria, 2022-11
- 13-year-old Nigerian ICT genius gains US university admission — Nigerian Tribune, 2022-11
- Emmanuella Mayaki: 13-Year-Old Nigerian Genius Gains University Admission in America, Many Celebrate Her — Legit.ng, 2022-11-08
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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