Our story
Reading the register, not the rumour
A small desk built on published records, patient comparison, and a willingness to be corrected.
Varentis started with a simple frustration: education statistics in Nigeria are published fairly regularly, but rarely gathered in a way that lets anyone compare one term to the next. A ministry release here, a board bulletin there — each one accurate on its own, but hard to place in context without the others.
We began by building a habit rather than a product — reading every published release on enrolment, staffing, facilities, and examinations, and keeping a running ledger of what changed and when. That habit became the desk you see today.
We still work the same way: no figure goes into a report without a named source, and no school or agency is written about without a chance to reply first.
What guides us
Three things we hold to
01
Trace every figure
If a number appears in one of our reports, it can be traced back to a specific, published, official source — no exceptions.
02
Let the term settle
We wait for a fuller picture before publishing conclusions, rather than reacting to a single, isolated figure.
03
Leave room to reply
Schools and agencies named in a report are approached ahead of time, and their response is recorded, not summarised away.
The desk
People behind the reports
Ifeoma Nwachukwu
Lead Reporter, Education Desk
Baba Suleiman
Data & Records Coordinator
Chidinma Obiora
Course Facilitator