TikTok Tutor: How 9-Year-Old Nigerian Is Teaching Mathematics to Thousands
At nine years old, Charlotte Muritala is already studying mathematics well beyond the level most children her age encounter in the classroom.
Currently in JSS2, learning alongside students several years older than her, her excellent academic ability is only part of what has drawn attention to her.
Outside school, Charlotte has become known for breaking down mathematical problems for children online, turning lessons that many students find difficult into simple, easy-to-follow explanations.
Speaking exclusively to Africa Interviews, Charlotte and her father opened up about the journey behind her online videos. They explained the early signs of her gift for numbers, the challenges of learning alongside older students, the pressures that have come with sudden attention, and what they hope comes next.
Charlotte’s unusual academic journey began early. She started school earlier than most children her age and progressed quickly through her lessons. “I started school earlier and I learn very quickly,” she says, explaining how she came to be in a JSS2 classroom at just nine years old.
Being significantly younger than her classmates, however, has meant learning to navigate a social environment that is different from what most children her age experience. Some of her classmates are old enough to see her more as a younger sister than a peer. “It was different at first, but I got used to it,” Charlotte says of adjusting to life among older students.
For Charlotte, though, the academic challenge appears to have been less daunting than the opportunity to keep learning. Her interest in mathematics developed gradually, driven largely by her curiosity and enjoyment of solving problems.
“I like solving mathematics because I enjoy numbers and playing puzzles,” she explains.
She says her interest in the subject grew as she began tackling more difficult problems. Rather than being introduced to mathematics through a particular assignment or classroom exercise, Charlotte describes her passion for numbers as something she developed herself.
These days, algebra and variation are among the areas that particularly interest her. And when a problem proves difficult, she says she does not simply move on. “Some questions are difficult in mathematics, but I don’t give up. I keep trying to understand it.”
That persistence has also shaped the way she teaches. With support from her parents and encouragement from her mathematics teacher, Charlotte has moved from solving problems for herself to helping other children understand them.
Her teaching method is usually straightforward. She breaks difficult ideas into smaller, more manageable parts.
“I break it into small parts,” she says. The approach is particularly useful when explaining mathematics to beginners. Asked how she would teach a new concept to another nine-year-old, Charlotte offers a simple answer: “I would teach fractions and use simple examples.”
That ability to simplify mathematics eventually moved beyond the classroom and onto TikTok, where Charlotte now shares lessons with other children.
Her parents say the platform was created to give her an outlet for something she was already passionate about, helping other children understand mathematics. “We created the platform for her because if we didn’t, nobody would know her,” her father told Africa Interviews.
The videos have since brought Charlotte a level of attention that neither she nor her family had previously experienced. But with that visibility have come changes in how people around them relate to the family.
“Everybody is knowing her, everybody is calling her,” her father says. “Some people are not even getting closer to us again like before. They are seeing her as a different person entirely.”
For a family adjusting to a child suddenly attracting public attention, it has been an unexpected consequence of her growing online presence.
At home, however, the focus remains largely on learning. Charlotte works through textbooks covering material from JSS1 to SS3, while a private tutor monitors her progress and gives her additional work.
Her father also credits her school mathematics teacher, Mr. Kolawole, with providing important support and encouragement as Charlotte develops academically.
Despite that support, the family says they have received little formal recognition or institutional assistance. What they are looking for now is practical support that can help Charlotte continue developing her abilities.
Asked what would make the biggest difference, her father points to academic support at her school as well as a laptop that Charlotte could use for research. Charlotte herself has a more straightforward request.
Asked what she would want if a scholarship board, mathematics organisation or university came across her story, she doesn’t hesitate.
“To give me a scholarship.”
For now, Charlotte intends to continue doing what has brought her this far: learning, solving problems and teaching mathematics to other children. Her father believes her potential extends well beyond the online videos. “I believe she’s going to be a great mathematician in the future in Nigeria,” he says, “and she’s going to be in the top five.”
For Charlotte, the journey is still at an early stage. At nine, she is already navigating an academic environment designed for older students, developing her own approach to mathematics and using social media to help other children understand a subject she has come to love.
What happens next may depend not only on her ability, but on whether the support she and her family are seeking arrives at the right time.
