When Sarki Abba performed exceptionally in his examination in 1984, scoring 9 A1s, authorities in Nigeria were so shocked that they thought he had engaged in some form of malpractice, hence the decision to ask him to rewrite under strict supervision.
However, to their further surprise, the man from the country’s Kano State scored the same 9 As, compelling the authorities to apologise to him for doubting his brilliance at age 16.
The only difference between Abba’s scores in the first examination and the second one was that in the former, he had 9 A1s while in the latter, he got 8 A1s and 1 A2.
“Meet Sarki Abba from Kano State, the genius that was made to rewrite WASSCE after scoring 9 distinctions.
“In 1984, 16-year old Abba, a student of Science Secondary School Dawakin Tofa, scored 9 distinctions (8 A1 and 1 A2) in his West African Senior School Certificate (WASSCE) Exams. Examination authorities in Lagos didn’t believe Abba made those excellent scores without cheating.
The authorities provided a car that took Abba to Lagos in order to retake the exam. Abba was made to take the 9 exams in a duration of 3 days, under heavy supervision
After marking the rescheduled exams, he scored 9 A1 (the only ‘A2’ he had in English Language before the retake, became ‘A1’ resulted to 9 A1),” one Bayo Saburi Badmos who shared the awe-inspiring story on Facebook wrote.
He recounted how the excellent performance by Abba compelled authorities to initiate a National Merit Award.
“Faced with shock, the authorities apologized and instituted the National Merit Award. And, rightfully, Sarki Abba was the first recipient of the award. In 1989/90 school session, 21, Sarki Abba graduated as OVERALL BEST Medical Student, and OVERALL BEST Graduating Student at ABU, Zaria— he was just 21,” Badmos added.
He went on further to lash out at the organisers of Nigeria’s popular reality show, Big Brother Naija, simply called BB Naija, saying the youth should be told worthy stories such as that of Abba to inspire them positively, rather than “stupid BB Naija.
Badmos’s post has sparked reactions among his followers, with the majority of them applauding Abba.
SOURCE: Senali News Ghana
