bAHAGO INTERNATIONAL sCHOOL

26+ Years of Uninterrupted Service | 22,000+ Children Educated Since 1999 | 2 Locations 

Bahago International School is a mission-driven educational institution dedicated to serving low-income families in Kaduna State. Since opening our doors in 1999, we have operated on a simple, non-negotiable belief: Poverty should not deny a child their right to education.

Located across two campuses (Maraba & Rido), we function not just as a centre for academic learning but as a "Safe Zone", a physical sanctuary where children find stability, routine, and safety amidst regional challenges.

Our History: 26+ Years of Resilience

Our story is one of growth, community trust, and intergenerational impact.

• 1999 (The Beginning): We launched with a vision to provide accessible education to the underserved. In our first decade, we expanded to a second location and grew to serve approximately 750 students annually, establishing ourselves as a pillar of the community.

• 2010-2017 (The Expansion): As trust in our academic and moral standards grew, so did our family, reaching a peak enrolment of over 1,200 students per year.

• 2018-Present (The Generational Cycle): Today, we have achieved a rare milestone. We are currently educating the third generation of our community, the grandchildren of our original staff members and pioneer students. To walk through our gates is to walk through history.

The "Bahago Model"

We understand the economic reality of the families we serve. In a community driven by agriculture and trade, cash is often scarce, but value is not.

To ensure no child is left behind, Bahago International School operates a Livelihood-Integrated Tuition System. We accept "Fees-in-Kind," allowing parents to pay for their children’s education using:

• Farm Produce: Tubers, grains, and harvest crops.

• Skilled Labor: Carpentry, masonry, and maintenance services.

This model dignifies our parents, integrating their hard work directly into their child’s future. It turns a harvest into a diploma. 

The Impact 

This model keeps our classrooms full of bright minds who would otherwise be on the street. It integrates the school into the local economy and gives parents dignity, they are paying for their child's education with the fruits of their hard work. 

In 1999, when the bell first rang at Bahago International School, it didn't just call children to assembly, it called a community to action. From day one, our school has been a unique ecosystem where three generations have lived, learnt, and worked side-by-side. 

• Generation 1: The Pioneers (1999) 

Our story began with a diverse group of adults seeking a new beginning. On one side, we had our Founding Staff, cleaners, drivers, and teachers, who built the school’s foundation with their bare hands. On the other side, we had our Adult Students, market traders and farmers who had missed out on schooling in their youth but enrolled in our Secondary Section to learn to read and write.

These two groups shared a common bond: they both brought their children. It was a common sight to see a mother drop her toddler at the nursery block before walking across the courtyard, either to teach a class or to attend one as a student in SS1.

• Generation 2: The Children of Promise (2000s–2010s) 

These toddlers, the children of our staff and the children of our adult students, grew up together in the same classrooms. They became the first generation to receive a complete education at Bahago. As they graduated and moved into the world, a remarkable thing happened. Many of them chose to return home.

• • The son of the Adult Student returned as a Parent, trusting the school that educated his father.

  • The daughter of the Founding Staff member returned as a Teacher, now working alongside the very people who raised her.

• Generation 3: The Legacy (Today) 

Today, the cycle is complete. We are currently educating the grandchildren of those original pioneers.

• Our founding staff members (now grandparents) watch their grandchildren play on the grounds they maintain.

• Our original adult students (now literate grandparents) help their grandchildren with homework.

• Our "Alumni-Staff" are now teaching the next generation, securing the future for their own children.

At Bahago International School, we have a family tree. We have successfully broken the cycle of illiteracy and built a cycle of trust that has lasted 26+ years.

Mr Anthony Yaki Bahago & Mrs Juliana Bahago (Our Parent)

Q: Take us back to 1999. What was happening in this community that made you say, 'We need to build a school here'?  

"You have to understand, Maraba and Rido were very different places back then. It was the return of democracy in Nigeria, and there was hope in the air, but not here. We looked around and saw hundreds of children roaming the streets during school hours. They were playing in the sand while their age-mates in the city were learning to read. We didn't set out to build an empire. We just wanted to solve a problem we saw outside our window. We looked at each other and said, 'If we don't teach them, who will?' We started with just a handful of chairs and a bell. The community was hungry for knowledge; they just needed someone to set the table."

Question 2: The Struggle & The Barter Model

Q: We accept farm produce and labour as fees. How did that start? Was there a specific moment?

"It wasn't a planned policy, it was born out of tears. I remember a father coming to my office in the early 2000s. He was holding his son's hand and he was weeping. He told me, 'Sir, I have bags of maize in my farm, but I do not have 500 Naira in my pocket.' I looked at the boy, he was bright, eager. I couldn't send him home just because the market was slow. So I told him, 'Bring the maize.' That day, we realised that poverty is often just a lack of cash, not a lack of value. From then on, the 'Barter System' became our lifeline. It allowed the farmer, the welder, and the trader to educate their children with dignity." 

Question 3: The Growth

Q: The school grew to over 1,000 students at its peak. What is your favourite memory from those busy years?

"2008-2015 stands out. We had grown so large that our classrooms couldn't contain the students! Every class from Primary one to SS 1 had over an hundred children. We had to move the primary student in Maraba to a temporal block. I remember standing in front of my office during one of the morning assembly and looking at a sea of sky blue and blue uniforms. The drums were beating, parents were dropping off their kids, some of them the same parents who had paid with maize. To see over 1,000 children in a place where there used to be none... the noise was deafening, but to us, it was music. It proved that a village school could produce excellence."

Question 4: The 3rd Generation

Q: We now have grandchildren of your original staff and students attending. How does that feel?

(Laughs) It makes us feel old, but it makes us feel fulfilled! There is a specific teacher, Ms. Amina. I remember when her father, our watchman, brought her here as a tiny girl in Primary 1. Now, she is teaching here, and she just enrolled her own daughter in Nursery school. When you see three generations of one family pass through your gates, it is the ultimate seal of approval. They are telling us: 'You raised me well, now help me raise my child.' That trust is what has kept Bahago alive for 25 years."