Oldest Nigerian pupil dies at 94

September 10, 2015 11:45 PM

Mohammud Modibbo, was unable to go to school as a child because he worked as a trader, travelling around the country.

Oldest Nigerian Pupil, Mohammud Modibbo, dies at age 94. Modibbo is pictured with his teacher, Abdulkarim Ibrahim

A man believed to be the oldest school pupil in Nigeria has died at the age of 94.

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Mohammud Modibbo, was unable to go to school as a child because he worked as a trader, travelling around the country.

BBC reports that, he decided to enter primary school in his mid-80s and had recently begun secondary school in the northern city of Kano.

His teacher, Abdulkarim Ibrahim, said Mr Modibbo was "easy-going and jovial".

"During classes, he was very attentive and asked questions when he didn't understand - either asking the teacher or a student sitting beside him," Mr Ibrahim told the BBC Hausa service.

Mr Modibbo had dreamed of pursing a university education, but his "sudden death" had robbed him of that chance, the teacher added.

Mr Modibbo was an Islamic scholar who sat in school alongside pupils young enough to be his great-grandchildren.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the oldest person ever to have enrolled at primary school, was Kenyan, Kimani Maruge at the age of 84.

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Maruge passed away five years later.

May the soul of Modibbo, rest in peace.