Why did Western education spread more widely in southern Dahomey than in the Muslim north?

Western education spread more widely in southern Dahomey (modern-day Benin) than in the Muslim north primarily due to the active influence of specific groups in the south that were absent or less effective in the north.

Missionaries, descendants of Portuguese settlers, and formerly enslaved people who returned from Portuguese colonies in the Americas—often referred to as Brésiliens or Brazilians—were instrumental in introducing and promoting both Christianity and Western-style education in the southern regions. These groups established a foundation for schooling that helped the south develop a distinct educational advantage, eventually leading to the region being known by the 1950s as the "Latin Quarter" of French West Africa.12