Nigerian Slangs

25 OAU Slangs and Their Meanings

The Nigerian university experience is incomplete if you have never met with coursemates outside your school, leaving outsiders wondering, “What the hell is happening?” or “What language are they speaking?”

For example, in Obafemi Awolowo University, “chorister” has a different meaning, and “1k” isn’t what you think it is. But those aren’t the only slangs common to the school. We’ve compiled 25 OAU slangs and their meanings.

Anglomoz:

The love garden between Angola and Mozambique halls.

E-problem:

The school’s e-portal.

Iwe:

Means “book” in English, used for academically sound students.

Jacking:

Reading for lengthy hours.

Jackobian:

OAU’s version of a bookworm.

Won ti sha mi:

Used when you get bad grades or fail a course.

Papa Bams:

It’s the nickname for the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Adebayo Simeon Bamire.

1k:

A 1000-capacity lecture hall.

Laana:

This one means to fail a course woefully.

Spagewa:

Beans and spaghetti made concoction style.

Indospag:

A combination of noodles and spaghetti.

Faa Aluta:

To cause chaos leading to the school’s closure or a strike.

Mr Moz:

This slang is for male students who frequently visit female hostels.

Moz101:

Wooing new female students in Mozambique Hall.

No animal:

Meals cooked with no protein.

Academics:

Lecture halls.

As e dey hot:

Refers to puff puff, egg roll, and similar pastries.

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OAU choristers:

This is the slang for law students required to wear white and black outfits.

White House:

Department of Chemistry & Physics.

Yellow House:

Department of Mathematics.

Docki:

A medical student.

Kawe ju:

It’s the slang used when an unserious person decides to study.

Death centre:

The university’s health centre.

Kooro:

Hidden or secluded places.

Town:

Refers to areas outside the school campus.

Enjoyed this piece on 25 OAU slangs and their meanings? Read this next: Nigerian Slangs and Their Meanings: The 2024 Guide

Adeyinka Odutuyo

June 27, 2024

Aluta and Chill

Nigerian Slangs, Nigerian students, Nigerians, Obafemi Awolowo University
QUIZ: Can You Guess if These Words Are Slangs or Nonsense?

Slang or rubbish?

Chioma Munachi

June 7, 2024

Quizzes

Gen Z, Nigerian Slangs, Slang, slangs
Corporate Idan 101: How to Make Sure Your Colleagues Know Not to Try You

Who is an idan? A streetwise person who hustles hard and plays harder. An idan answers to no one.

But how can you be your true idan self at work when bosses and colleagues expect you to bow to capitalism? That’s where we come in. Think of it as an idan code, but for the workplace.

An idan never does office politics

Who has the time to engage in eye service? Definitely not an idan. They move in silence and still get shit done. You’ll never catch an idan sending emails at 4 a.m. or picking calls after work hours. For an idan, 9-5 is 9-5.

Deadline fears idan, not the other way around

If the deadline can’t shift to accommodate an idan, that’s the deadline’s cup of tea. Punching above their weight? The only punching an idan does is on the buttons of an ATM or the occasional bus conductor who wants to see crazy.

Extra work? An idan will never be there

The only extra an idan subscribes to is extra salary. They don’t even understand the meaning of unpaid overtime. The idan even chooses to accept paid overtime if they feel like it.

An idan never makes their business known

The idan might have a whole ass family and grandchildren, but coworkers will never know. The only glimpse into their personal life you’ll ever know is their surname.

But the idan doesn’t hide their side hustle

Just so you know they have a choice. They aren’t tied to capitalism, so if you people do anyhow, you can hold your job.

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An idan never tolerates nonsense

You want to call an idan to an impromptu meeting? Or you have the bright idea to call them on Slack or Teams without prior notice? It’s like you’ll do the meeting with yourself.

An idan is never fired, they resign

Send an idan a termination letter, and they’ll reply with a letter of resignation.

Passive aggression? Not the idan way

The idan doesn’t need to hide their mouth. They’ll say what they want with their full chest and leave you to do your worst.

An idan selects the work they’ll do

The correct way to address an idan is, “Do you think you can work on this project?” and not, “I want you to work on this project.” Let’s be guided.

NEXT READ: 8 Ways to Answer “Where Do You See Yourself in Five Years?”

Don’t leave without getting your ticket to HERtitude 2023!

Tife Oni

May 15, 2023

Money

9-5ers, Funny, idan, Jobs, Nigerian Slangs, Nigerians, workplace
You Probably Say These 8 Slangs the Wrong Way

If you have any sort of street credibility or are even a bit familiar with the streets of Nigerian Twitter, chances are your sentences are peppered with Nigerian slangs.

But do you know the meaning of some of them? Are you saying them right? That’s what we’re about to find out.

Trabaye

You might think to “trabaye” means to “shayo or enjoy your life”. It kinda does, but it mostly means to “misbehave or get intoxicated as a result of taking hard drugs”. It got popularised by Portable’s hit, Zazuu.

Gbemi de be

Translated into English, it says, “Take me there”, but it has a similar meaning to “trabaye” — to get high on drugs — so you might not want to repeat it in front of your Nigerian mother.

Let him cook

Don’t lie. You probably saw this on Twitter and concluded it means to drag someone. It does, but an important difference is, the dragger is the person “cooking” (usually with insults or mocking words) the “draggee”. You can also say the draggee is being “cooked”.

Rizz

This one is still new with the Gen Z community, so if you see it, don’t get confused. It’s culled from “charisma” and refers to one’s skill in charming a potential romantic partner.

RELATED: You Can Only Score 15/20 on This Slang Quiz if You Attended a Nigerian Secondary School

Emi lokan

This one became popular because of Tinubu, and now, most people just use it to refer to him. It’s not his nickname, though. Translated into English, it means “It’s my turn”, so feel free to use it when you want to fight for your right. Preferably not on social media sha, because someone will no-doubt “cook” you.

[Insert name] snapped

According to people who invented English, to snap means to get angry, so I don’t blame you if you think that too. But according to the rules of slang, it means you did a great job or you “killed” an outfit. Similar to: “You ate and left no crumbs”.

Ajé (Pronounced Ahh-Jay)

This is typically used in “Ajé, you dey motivate me”, and for the longest time, I wondered why. For context, “Ajé” is Yoruba for “money/wealth”, but in this slang, it means “Honestly” or “I swear”. It came from how Yorubas use the word to swear and prove their honesty.

Pepper don set

I can’t be the only one who thought this slang meant something like: “the gossip is ready”. Apparently, it means “money is here in abundance”, and it’s time to party.

Bonus: Trenches

You should already know this, but “trenches” is a slang term for the ghetto or tough situations. You could say you came from the trenches if you came from a poor background.

NEXT READ: Instead of Dancing, Nigerian Men Should Do These 10 Things at the Club

Tife Oni

March 16, 2023

Inside Life

Funny, Nigerian Slangs, Nigerians, Popular, slangs
20 Slangs That Will Help You to Blend into Life in Port Harcourt

Port Harcourt slangs are out of this world. They are often scary-sounding and you probably shouldn’t say some of them outside. But for the sake of blending in, you’re better off knowing them than not.

Jonz

This means “mad “or “stupid”. (e.g. No go dey jonz).

Abobi

This means “guy”.

Die it

This means “shut up”.

Chow

This means “eat” or “to eat”.

Salama

This means “greet” or “to greet”.

Malle

This means “mother”.

Palle

This means “father”.

Cappa

This means “phone”.

Fracas

This is loosely translated to “disagreement”.

Unit

This means “an area” or “a house”.

Disembark

This means “stop” or “get away”.

RELATED: 7 Things You NEED to Know If You Are Visiting Port Harcourt for The First Time

Tanana

This means “to call someone”. (e.g I dey tanana my guy).

Banny

This is used to refer to a pretty lady.

“You too dey cap cap”

Loosely translates to “you talk too much”.

Senior man

This means “boss”. Use it when you’re referring to someone you respect.

Facebook me

“Look at me”.

Kpekus

This means “sex”. Another word for it is “wipe” (e.g I don wipe that guy. Nothing dey at all).

Rubbers

This means “money” or “funds” (e.g., “Oh boy! You hold rubbers for hand?”).

“Woto woto”

This means “in excess”. An example is the popular expression is, “I go beat you woto woto”.

“Weda your compass”

This means “where are you going?”.

READ THIS NEXT: 19 Places In Port Harcourt That Will Definitely Confuse You

Sheriff Alimi

July 18, 2022

Inside Life

Nigerian Slangs, Port harcourt
QUIZ: Can You Guess If These Native Words Are Compliments Or Insults?

Some native words that are compliments could look like insults and vice versa. Can you tell the difference?

Take the quiz:

Miriam Onyemenam

January 21, 2022

I Too Sabi, Quizzes

Language, Languages, Native, Nigeria, nigerian language, Nigerian Slangs
6 Ways To Find A Boo Without “Eating Breakfast” First

The term “eating breakfast” doesn’t mean having your first meal of the day. Nope. It’s a slang that means getting hurt by men and women, left, right, and centre. And one thing you need to know about the streets is, there’s a lot of breakfast to go around.

Here are a few ways to find a boo without chopping breakfast first.

1. Serve the breakfast.

Tap into your inner chef and serve piping hot breakfast to everyone you come across. Just remember that karma is real and someone might come along in the future and serve you breakfast so intensely you might die. But don’t worry about that now. You’ll cross that bridge when you get to it.

2. Have a new partner every business day.

See a new person every day so they won’t be in your life long enough to hurt you. It’s also a really good way to test the waters and learn the kind of crazies roaming the street these days.

3. Make your prospective partner take a personality quiz.

Make sure they take a “how crazy are you” quiz. Watch them while they take it so they won’t cheat and send you the wrong results. Anyone who gets a high score on that quiz will make your life miserable and anyone who gets a low score will be very hard to trust because there’s always the chance that they’re a fucking liar and a dirty bitch.

4. Have a person whom you willingly get breakfast from.

A breakfast you ordered yourself is always better than a breakfast served, at least you’ll know you willingly went to collect it with your own hands or in this case genitals.

5. Stay at home and download your future partner from the internet.

Staying at home to mould or download your future partner saves you the stress of aimlessly roaming the streets and getting served heartbreak, like an overpriced meal from a Lagos restaurant.

6. Stay in your house.

Don’t bother roaming the streets because you can be on your own taking a stroll minding your business and the breakfast will still come to you. That can’t happen if you never leave your house. Staying in your house will reduce the number of wicked men and women you’ll meet in your lifetime. Unless of course, they live in your compound. That’s a story for another day.

Ibukun

October 21, 2021

Inside Life

breakfast, Funny, Nigerian Slangs, relationships
10 Words Nigerian Always Say Twice For Emphasis

Emphasis has always been placed on these words for as long as Nigeria has existed, and it is blasphemous to do otherwise. Many Nigerians are guilty of this, especially nosey neighbours or that one annoying seat partner in primary school.

1. Borrow Borrow

This is the only way to address someone that is always borrowing people’s things, maybe Nigerians think that if they say it twice, it’ll stop the person from borrowing.

2. Cry cry

You will be deep in your feelings as a child, crying (sometimes unreasonably) and one yeye person will come and say, “Cry cry baby, you can cry oh.” Aunty Ngozi, no, are you mad?

3. Fear fear

Nigerians are very good at shaming people for being afraid of anything that scares them. To be honest, the fear of being called this has probably made people do a lot of stupid things.

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4. Looku Looku

This one usually follows with a slap or an insult of sorts. In fact, being called a looku looku is an insult.

5. Scatter scatter

This one is specially reserved by Nigerian mothers for their kids. She’ll enter your perfectly disorganised room where you can at least find all your things, unlike the glasses she is always looking for that is always on top of her head. Somehow, you’re the scattered one.

6. Follow follow

If someone calls you follow follow, it’s probably because you got into trouble after following someone to do something bad.

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7. Bear bear

This one just doesn’t make sense because how do you get “bear bear” from “beards”? But if people don’t say “bear bear” for emphasis when referring to someone growing a beard, that means the beard is nothing to write home about.

8. Corner corner

This basically means that someone has done you dirty, played you wayo, or taken you fi eediat.

9. Lie lie

This one is complicated because it can mean so many things. If a market woman says “lie lie” in a high pitch, it means she is about to cheat you. If a child says it in a lower pitch, you are being called a liar and if two people are gossiping and one person says it, then they are simply expressing disbelief. Think about the power of emphasis, people.

10. Copy copy

This is when someone steals your intellectual property, style, girlfriend, slang e.t.c. The gag is to say it twice for emphasis so they can acknowledge how unoriginal they are.

Malakai Bassey

June 3, 2021

Inside Life

Ephasis, Humour, Nigerian Slangs, Slang
6 Slangs Every IJGB Needs To Learn
It is December, and as always, I Just Got Back (IJGBs) are now in town to remind us that the weather in Heathrow in different from the one in Honolulu. While IJGBs have knowledge of worlds, we have knowledge of words. Here are six slangs IJGBs have to learn to blend in.
1. On God
Nigerians are so in love with God that when they realised God was not mentioned in the first stanza of the National anthem, they created a second stanza that starts with “Oh God of creation”. When Nigerians say “On God”, they are telling you to do your best and trust God to handle the rest. When you ask a Nigerian if clubbing will happen tonight, dear IJGB, “On God” = As long as God lives, we will ball!
1. We go run am
This is the slang home-based Nigerians want to hear from you when they complain about their economic predicament. As a bag of rice is now worth the same amount as a plot of land in Ibadan, we go run am is the slang you need to comfort home-based Nigerians that help is coming soon. You can also just ask for their account number.
1. E be things
E be things is a general slang on the complexity of life. This is what you say when you realise that problems are not tailored to frustrate you, problems just exist and there is nothing you can do about them. E be the things is the hood equivalent of “Well… that’s life”. When you get stuck in traffic on your way to pick up glazed doughnuts, E be things is what you tweet to let home-based Nigerians know what’s up.
1. At all at all na im bad pass
This is the slang to use when you are expecting ₦10m in your account, and you get ₦1k. It is you saying “I know I deserve better, but I will manage.”
1. I can’t kill myself
After all the freezing cold in Toronto, and the lockdown in London, you are now home to enjoy yourself, but people won’t stop asking why you like partying so much. To remind your haters that it has been a stressful year, the right slang to tweet post-hangover is “I can’t kill myself”. That way, your haters will know you don’t care. You just want to enjoy the holidays.
1. Omo
If all else fails, try omo. Omo is “innit” that didn’t see visa to collect. It fits into every context. Omo is the slang for when you see a hot guy/babe. Omo is the slang for when someone hits your car. Omo is the slang for a bowl of Isi-ewu that hits every part of your body. Omo is a sentence, a phrase, a word, a culture depending on how you use it.
Which slang did we miss?
Muhammed Akinyemi

December 21, 2020

General, Inside Life

IJGB, Nigerian Slangs, slangs

Anglomoz:

E-problem:

Iwe:

Jacking:

Jackobian:

Won ti sha mi:

Papa Bams:

1k:

Laana:

Spagewa:

Indospag:

Faa Aluta:

Mr Moz:

Moz101:

No animal:

Academics:

As e dey hot:

OAU choristers:

White House:

Yellow House:

Docki:

Kawe ju:

Death centre:

Kooro:

Town:

An idan never does office politics

Deadline fears idan, not the other way around

Extra work? An idan will never be there

An idan never makes their business known

But the idan doesn’t hide their side hustle

An idan never tolerates nonsense

An idan is never fired, they resign

Passive aggression? Not the idan way

An idan selects the work they’ll do

Trabaye

Gbemi de be

Let him cook

Rizz

Emi lokan

[Insert name] snapped

Ajé (Pronounced Ahh-Jay)

Pepper don set

Bonus: Trenches

Jonz

Abobi

Die it

Chow

Salama

Malle

Palle

Cappa

Fracas

Unit

Disembark

Tanana

Banny

“You too dey cap cap”

Senior man

Facebook me

Kpekus

Rubbers

“Woto woto”

“Weda your compass”

1. Serve the breakfast.

2. Have a new partner every business day.

3. Make your prospective partner take a personality quiz.

4. Have a person whom you willingly get breakfast from.

5. Stay at home and download your future partner from the internet.

6. Stay in your house.

1. Borrow Borrow

2. Cry cry

3. Fear fear

4. Looku Looku

5. Scatter scatter

6. Follow follow

7. Bear bear

8. Corner corner

9. Lie lie

10. Copy copy