Do you remember the pacesetter, Sarki Abba from Kano State?
In the cold hamattan of 1984, a Kano indigene from Science Secondary School Dawakin Tofa did the unthinkable!
He scored 9 distinctions (8 A1 and 1 A2) in his West African Senior School Certificate (WASC) Exams. This achievement seemed unrealistic that the authorities at Lagos assumed it was a cheat.
In order to unveil this mystery, a car was sent to pick up 16-year-old Sarki Abba straight from Dawakin Tofa where he was made to retake the whole 9 exams in 3 days.
After marking and collating the results, he scored 9 A1s (the only ‘A2’ he had in English Language before retaking the subjects, was ‘A1’ resulting to 9 A1s)
The Lagos authorities rightly instituted the National Merit Award; making Sarki Abba its first recipient.
At 21, Sarki Abba graduated as Overall Best Medical Student, Overall Best Graduating Student at ABU, Zaria in 1989.
Sarki was subsequently invited to U.S.A where he continued his studies, work and lives.
He is presently a Professor of Urology and Pathology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, USA. Also, MD, PhD, at the John T. Grayhack Professor of Urological Research.
Prof. Sarki Abba’s research programme is focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms that drive cancer initiation, progression and recurrence with the ultimate goal of developing therapies that interfere with these processes.
His work has particularly focused on Prostate Cancer.