Baptist Academy is one of the oldest secondary schools in Nigeria (1885). Obanikoro/Broad Street heritage campus. Nigerian curriculum, boys-only historically. Long list of prominent alumni. Affordable pricing reflecting the mission tradition.
Fee breakdown
Tuition range
₦180.0K–500.0K
/yr · 2025/2026
Estimated first-year total
₦500.0K
tuition + extras
L
Lagos.Cool Editorial
2 May 2026 · 2 min read
About this school — Baptist Academy
Baptist Academy, founded 1885, is one of the very oldest secondary schools in Nigeria — pre-dating the amalgamation of Nigeria itself. Originally on Broad Street, Lagos Island, the school later established the Obanikoro campus that carries its heritage today. Baptist mission ethos with strong academic tradition. Alumni include senior clergy, civil servants, professionals across generations.
Baptist Academy's 1885 founding places it in a narrow cohort — CMS Grammar (1859), Methodist Boys (1878), Methodist Girls (1879), and Baptist Academy — of Nigerian schools that pre-date the amalgamation of the country itself. That heritage matters more than it might in newer schools: multi-generational alumni families, an active Old Baptist Boys Association with chapters in Lagos, Ibadan, London, and Washington DC, and a settled Baptist-mission culture that has weathered multiple state and church transitions. The academy's move from the original Broad Street site to Obanikoro in the mid-20th century reflected the broader mission strategy of the Nigerian Baptist Convention: bring the education programme to where the Baptist community was growing. Today, Baptist Academy Obanikoro serves the Fadeyi/Palmgrove/Obanikoro/Anthony Village catchment as one of the affordable-tier Christian mission secondaries.
Strengths & trade-offs
✓ Strengths
✓One of oldest secondary schools in Nigeria (founded 1885)
✓Baptist mission tradition
✓Strong academic heritage
✓Historic Broad Street/Obanikoro campus
✓Long alumni network
✓Christian ethos with academic seriousness
✗ Trade-offs
✗Day-only
✗Boys-only historically
✗No IGCSE
✗Older facilities
✗Class sizes 30+
Facilities & campus
●Obanikoro campus
●Academic blocks
●3 science laboratories
●Baptist chapel
●Assembly hall
●Library
●Sports facilities
Curriculum & exam pathway
Accreditations
• WAEC
• Federal Ministry of Education Nigeria
University destinations
UNILAGLASUCovenantBabcockBowenNigerian State universitiesNigerian Baptist Convention seminariesTorontoUK universities (Manchester, Warwick)
Admission process
JS1 entry via school entrance examination. Application fee ₦8,000–₦12,000. Baptist family priority. Common Entrance results supplementary.
JS1 entrance examination is held twice yearly — in March and August — covering English, Mathematics, and General Knowledge at end-of-primary level. Application fee ₦10,000 covers the assessment; a further ₦8,000 for shortlisted candidates covers the interview and full documentation processing. Baptist family priority is stated but the school also actively admits non-Baptist Christians and non-Christian pupils on academic merit. Sibling and Old Boys Association member children receive documented priority. SS1 transfer entry available for pupils with strong JS3 results who want to complete senior secondary within the Baptist mission tradition. The Principal interviews all shortlisted candidates; parents are interviewed separately to confirm alignment with the Christian mission ethos before offer letters are issued.
Tuition is only part of the bill. Here's what families actually pay:
Uniform₦20,000–₦40,000
Books + WAEC entries₦25,000–₦80,000/yr
Lunch₦60,000–₦120,000/yr
PTA levy₦10,000–₦20,000/yr
Campus & facilities
The Obanikoro campus houses academic blocks, three science laboratories, a Baptist chapel, an assembly hall, a library, and sports facilities. Day-only. Facilities are modest but preserve the mission-school aesthetic.
The Obanikoro campus was developed on Baptist mission land in the mid-20th century and has been continuously expanded — a science wing added in the 1980s, computer laboratory in 2001, the current library structure in 2011. The Baptist chapel remains the spiritual heart of the school and hosts morning devotion, Sunday services, and end-of-year graduation ceremonies. The football pitch on the west side of the campus dates from the 1960s and has been the site of the annual inter-house football final since 1968. Power runs on grid + generator + inverter backup for classroom lighting. Water from LSWC pipe with an onsite borehole for backup. Day-only; the school offers before-school prep from 7:15am and after-school study until 4:30pm.
1885 — pre-dating Nigerian amalgamation. One of the two or three oldest schools in the country, alongside CMS Grammar School (1859) and Methodist Boys (1878).
Baptist family priority but non-Baptists welcome. Christian Religious Studies is compulsory. Non-Christian pupils accommodated.
80-90% credit-pass in core subjects. Sciences historically strong. Baptist Academy produces WAEC national subject prizes occasionally.
Obanikoro/Fadeyi corridor on the Lagos Mainland. Historically the school was on Broad Street (Lagos Island); the Obanikoro site was established mid-20th century.