A man believed to be the oldest school pupil in Nigeria has died at the age of 83.

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

He decided to enter primary school in his mid-70s 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,” Ibrahim said.

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

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.

He passed away five years later. (BBC)

•Photo courtesy BBC shows late Nigerian oldest pupil Mohammud Modibbo with someone presumably a teacher.