10 Nigeria Fun Facts You'll Wish You Knew Sooner

Now it makes sense!

As a patriotic citizen of Nigeria and someone who has lived in this country for the majority of my life, I thought I knew every single thing there was to know about Nigeria.

That was not until I saw a tweet by WTFFacts about Nigeria and couldn't believe it (that tweet is #5 on today's list). So, I went scavenging to see what other funny Nigerian facts I didn't know about and I'm happy to report back that I have found 10 good ones.

Are you ready to dive in and read them? Then let's go!

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1. The 1964 Civil War Was PAUSED Because of Football

You heard that right. In 1964, during the civil war, there was a 2 day pause in the war because Nigerians wanted to watch Pelé play.

2. 95% of Nigerians Don't Check Expiring Dates

Ask yourself if you're Nigerian or a Nigerian person you know if you're non-Nigerian what the expiry date of what they're eating is and I can almost bet you money they probably have no idea.

3. A Woman Can Sue a Man if He Doesn't Marry Her After Proposing

Yup! This is a real Nigerian rule. According to the Nigerian Breach of Contract to Marry, if a man proposes to a woman and then suddenly calls off the marriage, the woman is within her rights to sue him.

4. 'African Time' Is Default Time in Nigeria

CPT (Colored People Time) in America refers to the notion that for most black people when given a time for a program or occasion, come much later than the given time. So, if told a program starts by 12pm, expect people to start really showing up by 2pm.

In Nigeria, we call this 'African Time' and it is the norm. If you tell a random Nigerian to come somewhere by 10am, expect to see them by 1pm.

5. The Nigerian Police Force Was Formed...

On April Fool's Day. Yup! On April 1, 1930, the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) was formed.

6. Nigerians Answer Questions With Questions.

This is a funny fact best described by a short story I read online. The story goes that a British man once heard that Nigerians answer questions with questions. So on arriving at the Nigerian airport, he asked a young man, “Excuse me, is it true that Nigerians answer questions with questions?” to which the young man replied, “Who told you?”

7. Travel To The UK Once Didn't Need VISA

Yes. Before 1984, a travel visa was not required to travel to the United Kingdom. This all changed of course after the Dikko Affair.

8. Nigeria Holds The Record For...

Most fried dough balls made in 8 hours by a team.

Yup! According to the Guinness Book of World Records,

The most fried dough balls made in 8 hours by a team is 38,897 achieved by Dangote Flour Mills Plc (Nigeria), in Lagos, Nigeria, on 27 October 2018.

Dough balls are known as puff puffs in Nigeria.

9. Nigeria Also Holds The Record For...

Longest duration spinning a plate on the finger.

Remember in primary or secondary school, there was always that person that knew how to spin book or plate. Well, Nigeria apparently holds the record for that craft. According to the Guinness Book of World Records,

The longest duration spinning a plate on the finger is 2 hr 14 sec, and was achieved by Esochaghi Victor (Nigeria), in Enugu sports club, Enugu, Nigeria, 21 July 2019.

Esochaghi attempted the record as a personal achievement

10. Lagos REALLY is Over-Populated

No, it's not just talk. There really are too many people in Lagos. Even though Lagos State is the smallest state, yes, the SMALLEST state in the country by surface area (i.e. by space), it still occupies the most people in the country.

In fact, according to research the city of Lagos’ population is more than all of the eastern United States combined

That's All.

I hope you’ve had fun. Don’t forget to like my page if you don’t already for more stories like this, the fun never ends!

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Until next time, have a wonderful rest of your day.