In a country like Nigeria, where conversations around education often focus on access, infrastructure, and teacher shortages, one critical demographic remains almost completely invisible: the gifted child. These are the students who learn faster, think deeper, question more, and often outperform their peers in schoolwork. Yet, despite their abilities, they are rarely nurtured, supported, or even noticed within the system. In many cases, brilliance becomes a burden, rather than an asset.
Gifted students in Nigeria often struggle with boredom, emotional isolation, and underachievement. not because they lack ability, but because the education system is neither designed nor equipped to cater to them. From classrooms that prioritise rote learning to curriculums that teach to the average, and from overstretched teachers to policy neglect, the system is built to manage the median, not the exceptional. In fact, many gifted students are misunderstood, labelled as disruptive, arrogant, or strange, resulting in disengagement or, worse, wasted potential.
The first issue lies in perception. In Nigeria, giftedness is often confused with good behaviour or exam success. A child who finishes assignments early but questions everything might be seen as a troublemaker. Another who outpaces their classmates may be asked to “wait for others,” forcing them to sit through lessons they already understand. Without formal systems for identifying gifted learners, such as cognitive assessments or academic screenings, most of these children are left to drift, misdiagnosed or simply ignored.
Worse still, teachers are not trained to recognise or manage exceptional cognitive ability. In teacher training colleges and universities, there is little to no emphasis on gifted education. A brilliant student might be seen as showing off, while their emotional needs often heightened due to heightened sensitivity or perfectionism are dismissed as overreaction or rudeness.
A Curriculum That Fails the Fast Learner
Nigeria’s national curriculum is rigid, test-driven, and heavily geared towards standardisation. It focuses more on coverage than comprehension, and certainly not acceleration or enrichment. For gifted students, this means they are routinely under-challenged. They are forced to move at the pace of the entire class, often reviewing concepts they mastered months or even years earlier. As a result, these students either suppress their abilities to fit in, or mentally check out of school entirely. International best practices recommend differentiated instruction, curriculum compacting, and acceleration for gifted learners. In contrast, Nigerian schools, particularly public ones offer a one-size-fits-all approach. No academic competitions, no problem-solving modules, no mentorship tracks. Even gifted education programmes (where they exist) are limited to a few elite private institutions or foreign-curriculum schools that remain out of reach for most.
While countries like South Korea, Finland, and even South Africa have government-funded programmes dedicated to nurturing top academic talent, Nigeria needs to do more in this space. The closest initiatives, such as science olympiads or competitions like Cowbellpedia, are often sporadic, externally funded, and serve only a tiny fraction of the gifted population. There is also no national database of gifted learners, no accelerated learning tracks in public schools, and no scholarships specifically designed to nurture high-potential minds from underserved backgrounds. Talent, therefore, becomes a postcode lottery, available only to those who can afford enrichment.
If a gifted student somehow makes it through primary and secondary school, university rarely offers reprieve. Most public universities in Nigeria are plagued by outdated syllabuses, inconsistent academic calendars due to strikes, and a lack of academic mentoring. There are few, if any, honours tracks, research opportunities for undergraduates, or interdisciplinary learning spaces where gifted minds can thrive. Instead of being accelerated, many are demotivated, forced into systems that reward conformity over creativity.
Some escape through scholarships to study abroad, but these are few and competitive. The vast majority of brilliant students simply burn out, settle for less, or change paths altogether. The cost is staggering: Nigeria loses thousands of high-potential thinkers, innovators, and leaders every year not because they failed, but because the system did.
Nigeria’s National Policy on Education pays lip service to “education for all,” but makes no targeted provision for gifted learners. There are only a few federal agency in charge of talent development, and state-level mandates for gifted education. The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and other bodies remain silent on this front, instead focusing entirely on access and inclusion, which are vital but incomplete without excellence.
Meanwhile, countries investing in their brightest minds are reaping the rewards. China’s talent schools, India’s science high schools, and Germany’s early tracking system for gifted students have become pipelines for innovation and research. Nigeria cannot afford to ignore this any longer.
What Needs to Happen
Recognition and Identification: Schools must implement systematic methods for identifying gifted learners early through assessments, teacher referrals, and performance metrics.
Teacher Training: Every teacher should be equipped with basic skills in recognising and supporting giftedness. This can be integrated into teacher training curricula.
Curriculum Flexibility: Gifted learners should be allowed to accelerate through grades or explore enriched material that challenges them.
Mental Health Support: Emotional wellbeing services must be included in school systems to cater to the unique needs of high-performing students.
Policy Commitment: Government must develop and fund a national gifted education strategy, beginning with pilot programmes in each geopolitical zone.
Parental and Community Awareness: Giftedness must be de-stigmatised. Communities should be educated to support not suppress intellectual curiosity.
The cost of being brilliant in Nigeria is too high. Gifted students are penalised by a system that doesn’t see them, doesn’t understand them, and doesn’t support them. Their silence in the education discourse is deafening and dangerous. For every under-stimulated genius, for every disengaged top performer, for every potential innovator we fail to support, Nigeria pays in lost invention, lost productivity, and lost future leadership. Brilliance should never be a burden. It should be our most protected national asset.
