BACKGROUND Lymphomas are one of the commonest childhood malignancies. Due to varied clinical features many patients are misdiagnosed and treated for other diseases. It is imperative to keep health workers informed about the current trend of lymphomas in northeastern Nigeria to facilitate prompt diagnosis and treatment. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the extent of lymphomas at presentation and to define the pattern of presentation in relation to gender and site. METHODS Retrospective analysis of cases of lymphomas over a 15 year period was conducted. Structured questionnaires were used to document demographic characteristics and clinical features. The non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) cases were categorized using standard classification schemes. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 16, Illinois, Chicago, USA. Spearman's correlation and Student's t-test were applied where appropriate. A P value < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS Fifty cases of lymphoma, 10 (20%) belong to HL and 40 (80%) belong to NHL. Lymphoma is common in male, though the male to female preponderance was not significant in both the cases (P = 0.107 and 0.320, respectively). Maxilla was the commonest site of primary malignancy (36%) and late presentation of patients were observed. New trend was noticed, the NHL patients present commonly with severe symptoms than HL (P = 0.038). HL was dominated by lymphocytic predominant type, while NHL was dominated by the small non cleaved cells (Burkitt's) lymphoma (70%). CONCLUSIONS Childhood lymphoma in northeastern Nigeria has a slight shift in varied clinical presentation in favor of NHL. Patients in this study had late presentation.