CMS GRAMMAR SCHOOL LAGOS is Nigeria’s oldest and foremost secondary institution. It was established on June 6, 1859 by the Church Missionary Society (CMS) with Rev. Thomas Babington Macaulay, father of the late nationalist, Herbert Macaulay as principal.

The establishment of the school was part of the Missionary Society’s plan to develop local educated elite which could help promote the Christian faith. The products of the CMS Grammar School filled an existing vacuum and also formed the bulk of the emergent educated elite who ended up shaping “the future of Nigeria”.

Some eminent old grammarians include Mr. Akintola Williams, CBE, CFR (the first Nigerian Chartered Accountant), Late Chief F.R.A. Williams, QC, SAN (first Senior Advocate of Nigeria); Earnest Shonekan, GCFR, former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; Dr Oladapo Fafowora, Ambassador Plenipotentiary; late Professor Ayodele Awojobi, the first African to be awarded the degree of Doctor  of Science (DSc) in Mechanical Engineering at the now Imperial College London. The motto of the school is Nisi Dominus Frustra which means “Without God, We Labour in Vain”.