In 2024, Saki East, a rural local government area in Oyo State’s Oke-Ogun region, recorded the highest percentage of WASSCE candidates with five credits, including English and Mathematics, outperforming 17 other LGAs, including Ibadan and its urban neighbour, Saki West. FIJ’s Timileyin Akinmoyeje visited the communities to find out the reasons for success and the possibility of replicating elsewhere.
Saki East appeared to be one of those reference-worthy anomalies when the local government area outperformed others in Oyo State in the West African School Leaving Examination in 2024. Relative to the total number of students it registered, Saki East had produced more students with credits or better grades than any other LGA in Oyo.
The ‘others’ in this case, mind you, include the rather metropolitan Ibadan, which is the most urban and unarguably the most education-friendly city in the state, and Ogbomosho, which enjoys a university’s presence.
In the year under consideration, out of 607 candidates, 341 (56.2%) passed with five credits including English and Mathematics. Even Saki West, a neigbhouring LGA with more urban cities and an identical sociocultural reality, recorded just 37.94% success.
WAEC 2024 Pass Rates by LGA (Public Schools – Oyo State)
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const passRates = [56.18, 55.87, 44.37, 37.94, 37.28, 19.4, 18.0, 17.91, 15.21, 15.09];
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At the bottom of the table was Ibadan North West. Only 142 out of 941 public school candidates passed the examination, giving it a 15.09% success rate. Orire and Ibadan South West fared slightly better with 15.21% and 17.91% respectively. Ibadan North and Olorunsogo also performed poorly.
So, how does one explain these successes? How is it that, on average, schools from the far-flung hinterlands of Oke-Ogun produced a higher number of students with credit-level passes relative to their population than more urban centres like Ogbomoso or Ibadan?
Why did neighbouring areas, despite sharing similar cultural realities, geographical disposition and social composition, albeit with the added advantage of urban infrastructure, fail to perform nearly as well? What lessons can other local government areas in the state draw from this to produce more candidates with above-average results?
This underdog story, and the answers to these questions, however, is not as beautiful as many would like to believe. Sometimes, unlikely success stories have more than just one face to them. And these faces, with respect to the prevalent moral orthodoxies, are dirty. Saki East is a good example of this!
OJE OWODE [July 10 – July 12, 2025]
Muslim Grammar School, Oje-Owode, sat quietly among scattered houses, nestled within a broad stretch of green land, mostly grasses, with a few trees. The classroom blocks, plain and unimpressive, stood in loosely arranged clusters, two of them evenly spaced, all facing a wide clearing that appeared to serve as a football field.
A cursory glance at the school from the outside would suggest that any student success could not have been the result of a conducive environment. While drafting this report, between July 7 and July 17, Muslim Grammar School had classroom blocks without windows and two uncompleted buildings left standing.
The school premises was largely unguarded after schools. Once devoid of school activities for instance, the classrooms became a meeting ground for all kinds of living things.
DEFINITELY NOT EXCELLENT INFRASTRUCTURE
Essentially, it is a textbook village school. The basic schools, NUD Primary School at Medina Area and Baptist Primary School on Ago-Oje-Ibadan Expressway, did not fare any better.
None of the basic schools enjoy any form of security or fencing, and many blocks on their premises are not the right environments for learning. Oje Grammar School had a better appearance relative to the other schools in the area.
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Right at the entrance, a corridor of nature of sorts by the forest, there is a digital centre built by the National Information Technology and Digital Agency (NITDA). However, the school premises itself doesn’t have any sort of outstanding structures that would have given the students any advantage.
Essentially, an assessment of the condition in Oje-Owode takes good infrastructure off the list of possible reasons for the successful academic efforts that culminated into decent school-leaving exam results.
OJE GRAMMAR SCHOOL, A ‘MIRACLE CENTRE’
The first hint at what could be working in the schools came through a conversation with two soldiers at the military outpost on Ibadan-Oje-Ago Amodu Expressway, just adjacent the forest entrance of Oje Grammar School.
Both soldiers, an Idoma man from Benue State and a Yoruba man from Osun State, had offhandedly hinted at pointers of malpractice in the school nearby. The Idoma soldier had called Oje Grammar a ‘miracle centre’.
Interviews with two pupils lent credence to the assertion of the military men.
‘WITH MONEY, YOU CAN BRING YOUR SIBLING HERE’
Halimat’s* mother sells produce at the entrance of the town from Tede, another community west of Saki and East of Oje-Owode. The teenage girl, who was writing the National Examination Council Examination (NECO), would innocently describe the exam process fondly, with mild deference to the school and to the crop of external supervisors who handled the papers.
Like the soldier, Halimat had alluded to the supernatural in her description of the culture of malpractice. Unlike the soldier, her choice of terminology is more traditional.
“With money, you can also bring your sibling to write exams in our school. They would treat her well. We get some additional classes and extra lessons on practical topics close to examination. Many of us are writing NECO now. The usual way is, the supervisors do their job while allowing those that need to use ‘BABALAWO’ to work,” she said.
‘WE’RE ALLOWED TO TALK DURING EXAMS OR BRING BABALAWO IN’
“So, our school does enough to help us graduate well. Aside from the additional lessons, we are allowed the liberty of communication and some bold ones even carry babalawo to the exam hall. The supervisors are aware,” Halimat had said in an attempt to sell her school’s exam culture. ‘Babalawo’ is a code word for small pieces of paper with answers to examination questions written on them.
The situation in Muslim Grammar School, the other government-owned secondary school in town, did not differ much. Olayide*, whose disposition is more religious, explained that there were extra lessons for the studentS in the school during exam periods.
‘YOU DIDN’T HEAR IT FROM ME, BUT WE GOT SPECIAL PERMISSIONS…’
As a student of the sciences, Olayide described, quite casually, the absence of a chemistry teacher and practical classes and how the culture was to do rapid fire preparatory lessons for the students when external examinations approached. She was however more specific about the malpractice culture and its financial implications during the exam that was ongoing at the time of this report.
“You didn’t hear this from my mouth. But the truth is, we were given special permissions from the one supervisor assigned to us during each subject of the external examination. It was like the joint exam in SS2, WAEC and even NECO. For instance, this time, we were asked to pay N3,000,” Olayide said.
“The teachers in charge of the exams, I believe, are adept at dividing the overall sum up to settle the logistics of these permissions. The supervisors just have to feign ignorance. But it does happen. Except in instances where we get very strict supervision or we get external visitors.”
AGO AMODU [July 12 – July 14, 2025]
As the administrative capital of Saki East LGA, Ago Amodu has a livelier atmosphere than Oje-Owode and the surrounding towns, except for the transit hub of Sepeteri.
Beyond its relatively modern-looking buildings, the town hosts a general hospital, a Federal Emergency Road Management Agency (FERMA) office, a JAMB-accredited registration centre and several large churches.
The primary schools in Ago Amodu appear somewhat more decent compared to those in Oje-Owode. One reason could be that the office of the Local Education Inspector (LEI) is located within the Baptist Primary School near the town centre. The secondary schools, however, don’t stand out much when compared to those in Oje; at least not in terms of form or structure. Any differences are minor.
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At Muslim Grammar School, about a five-minute walk from the LEI’s office, the buildings are not fenced. One of the four classroom blocks has no windows but is still in use. There is, however, a pipe-borne water project within the school premises; it sits at the far end, facing the other blocks, relative to the entrance.
Behind the Baptist Primary School, boys from Adu High School, Muslim Grammar School and the nearby town of Sepeteri gather to play football.
On some evenings, like this one, girls from the same schools gather as well. Some gather to cheer the boys on while others meet for various activities. Many of these girls take time off from chores or commercial work — selling produce or hawking — to be there.
In short conversations with this reporter, some described exam practices similar to those mentioned by students in Oje-Owode, although with less detail.
Bilikisu*, whose comments others would often support, attends Muslim Grammar School in Ago Amodu. As an arts student, she said she hadn’t particularly felt left out of classes.
‘WE SEE THE EXAM QUESTIONS AND POSSIBLE ANSWERS’
According to her, some students, as is currently happening in the ongoing NECO examination, gain access to exam plugs who sell them possible questions beforehand. Even better, complicit supervisors sometimes feign ignorance while students consult textbooks, copy answers from others, or use the internet to their advantage.
Here’s how she described it:
“During exams, they give us hand; we have some liberty. Some of our more exposed classmates have seen questions and possible answers before exams.
“During exams, we can use the help of some of the moderators and supervisors and get special permission to use books, phone and prepared answers from the backdoor. That’s how it has been. I think that’s why sometimes, we have people from other big cities come to write their exams here.”
OGBOORO [JULY 14]
Ogbooro is a rather small agrarian community that serves as a transit town to Igboho. The community is heterogeneous like the other communities in this local government. Ogbooro does stand out in the sense that it appears like it had a larger community of Fulani residents at one extreme of the town.
It is at this end of the town that the Muslim Comprehensive High School Ogbooro — often shortened as ‘Comprehensive’ by residents — is situated. Like its counterpart communities, the school infrastructure is manageable at best.
Comprehensive school does not have a gate or a lock. Some of the classroom blocks appeared decent: painted with windows, doors and locks. However, there were other blocks in the small school with no windows. Some of these classrooms are accessible from the dirt path that branches off the Ogbooro-Igboho express-road.
Summarily, the school infrastructure is anything but impressive. Aside from the serenity that the nearby forest and tree rows lend to the school, the learning environment does not give any advantage to the student over anyone in a place like, say, Egbeda or Iseyin.
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SAKI EAST PEOPLE WOULD RATHER FARM THAN SCHOOL
Saki East generally doesn’t ascribe as much significance to education as they do farming or nomadism, according to Ariyo, the Local Inspection Officer serving at the Local Government. The predominant attitude to education, due to a myriad of reasons that are cultural and economical, is that education is necessary but not so important.
The cases of Halimat*, who was assisting her mother to fetch and sell corn while at the Medina area of the town in the week of her NECO examination or Quyum, who doubles as an assistant and apprentice to his father at his barbershop, buttresses Ariyo’s conclusion.
In fact, Ariyo had initially disagreed with FIJ’s data on their exam success, arguing it was improbable. He didn’t think that the learning culture and environment in his local government supported such excellent results.
“I don’t believe your data, sir. Where did you get that data? You mean Saki East had that result in Oyo State? That is unlikely,” he said stifling a sort of laughter thick with incredulity and apparent bemusement.
Ariyo would then proceed to search for and scan through his own copy of a partly done result analysis for the local government, and conclude that FIJ’s data was not so off the mark.
Here is what the inspector had to say about the community’s disposition to education:
“Many times, they prefer farming to educating their child. Or sometimes don’t even have the means to make the children prioritise education. Some of the children currently writing the National Exams, I have met them on the way to farms. I have tried talking sense into some parents but I have also tried not to be overbearing. I don’t want to be seen like I am blinded by privileges.
“But many don’t even further beyond secondary school, if they complete one at all. So, with the disposition to education here and the things I have observed in my tenure as the LIE, your observation of their performances caught me by surprise.”
WHAT DOES THE CONTEXT LOOK LIKE?
The Principals and the Local Inspector of Education would not discuss the teaching conditions and other contextual factors that could have contributed to the success of the students.
“You will need to get a letter from the Ministry of Education permitting us to speak to you and allow you interview some of the current and ex students, teachers and look around school,” Ariyo told FIJ, echoing the comments of the principals in both government owned secondary schools in Oje-Owode.
In the broader context, however, the environment of Oke-Ogun and Saki East Local Government does not confer any advantage for student schooling there. Aside from road network, the local government does not enjoy any standout infrastructure that could spell the difference in quality of education.
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FIJ had for instance, reported how the local government has grid infrastructure without power. Community sources say that it has persisted for over three years.
Furthermore, in 2018, a joint survey by the Oyo Bureau of Statistics and the State Ministry of Education found that Saki East ranked in the mid-range percentage-wise for children who dropped out of school between the ages of 3 and 5.
However, when it came to children aged 6 to 11, only four local governments had higher numbers of out-of-school children. Despite its relatively small population, Saki East had the sixth highest figure in that age bracket.
The data also revealed that among children aged 12 to 14, only three local governments recorded a higher percentage of those who had never attended school. For the 15 to 18 age group, just four local governments had worse statistics.
The report grouped Oyo State into seven geo-political zones: Ibadan main city, Ibadan less city, Ogbomoso, Oyo, Oke-Ogun I, Oke-Ogun II, and Ibarapa.
It noted that children living in Oke-Ogun I (Itesiwaju and Iseyin LGAs) and Oke-Ogun II (Irepo, Oorelope, Saki West, and Atisbo LGAs) had the highest number of out-of-school children. Focus group discussions linked this to the larger Fulani populations in these areas.
This observation tracks for Saki East: it is afterall within the Oke-Ogun zone and has a significant Fulani presence.
So, the question remains: how did a local government with such poor school attendance records go on to deliver a 100% WASSCE pass rate just a few years later?
NOTE: This story does not use the real names of the students. The teachers and the Local Inspector of Education (LIE) explicitly barred the journalist from interacting with them. In addition, some of the information they shared could be incriminating for both the students and the school.
The post Saki East Led Oyo in 2024 WASSCE. But There Were ‘Miracle Centres’, ‘Babalawos’, and ‘Special Permissions’ appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.