Meet Sarki Abba from Kano State, the genius who in 1984 was made to rewrite WASCE after scoring 9 distinctions. That year, 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 Certificate (WASCE) exams.
The examination authorities in Lagos thought they smelt a rat. It didn’t seem possible that Abba could have managed such an excellent result without some underhand arrangement, a.k.a. cheating. So, pronto, they made available a car that took Abba to Lagos in order to retake the exams. Abba was made to take the 9 exams in 3 days, and under heavy supervision. After marking the rescheduled exams, he now scored 9 A1s (the only ‘A2’ he previously had (in English Language) before the retake became ‘A1’. The young man made 9A1s in a 3-day exam. And that became his official result.
Surprised at how this had turned out, the authorities apologized and thereafter instituted the National Merit Award. And, rightfully, Sarki Abba was the first recipient of the award. In the 1989/90 school session, Sarki Abba graduated as overall best medical student and overall best graduating student at ABU Zaria. He was just 21.
(Adapted from Quora)
