The 8 Things You Would Know if You Ever Attended a Primary School in Nigeria

Life they say is a phase; and there is nothing that has a beginning that does not have an end. There was a time in our lives when we were younger and spent a reasonable period of our time in elementary schools.


Attending a primary school in Nigeria means you would be left with beautiful memories from that phase of life. It might have been a tough journey for those born without a silver spoon; nevertheless, it is worth talking about.

There were nursery rhymes sang by heart then and there were early morning prayers recited on the assembly ground. Most children looked forward to leaving the nursery class then and joining the primary class.

We would bring back the wonderful memories of attending a primary school in Nigeria in this piece. Below are some of the things we are sure you did when you were at that stage of your life:

1. The shoes you wore
There was a particular type of shoe that was trending then; every pupil wanted to wear it to school and some schools even made it compulsory for their students to wear that particular type. Moreover, not all colors were accepted so it had to be either black or brown.

2. The books

Many people would love to read some of the literature books used back then in the primary schools. Agbo’s family was the perfect family and all the stories often revolve around them. Nevertheless, we enjoyed looking at the diagrams even though many of us could not read then.

3. Ali and Simbi were our role models

Most children enjoyed reading tales about Ali and Simbi. Ali was the regular name for the boy while the girl was always Simbi. Simbi’s hairstyle never changed and Ali never got tired of wearing shorts.


4. The joy of using pen

At the initial stage of enrollment, pupils were made to use pencils. It was a wonderful time for them as most children looked forward to scribbling. But moving on to the higher classes, pens were being used.

Everyone who had gone through a primary school in Nigeria must have looked forward to graduating from the nursery section to the primary section in order to use the famous bic or eleganza biro.

5. The exercise book used then

If you attended a primary school in Nigeria, then you must have used the exercise book everyone wanted to get. Onward was trending then and pupils enjoyed tracing out the alphabets of the letter. It was a delightful period as some even found songs to sing each time they saw the word ‘exercise’.

There was hardly any pupil who could not spell that word.

6. The subject we all detested

Mathematics class was a no no for most pupils. Most students became either gentle during the maths period or they pretend to be zombies. To have thought mathematics was difficult then was absurd, we are sure many people know better now after offering courses in statistics.

7. The punishments

Another thing you would remember from attending a primary school in Nigeria is the punishment. There were days when we got reprimanded for being n*ughty in class and depending on the severeness of the offence, you could get it real bad. There were some teachers who were known to be terrible floggers; it is amazing that we still run into some of them.

8. Graduation and prize giving day

The bright students looked forward to this event; it was the perfect time to get rewarded for being smart and outstanding in class. There were exciting programs like cultural dance, drama and other things that could be of interest.

Most times, the graduation and prize giving day also marks the beginning of the holiday so it children always look forward to it.