With 36 states, Nigeria is a country blessed with diverse cultures, traditions, and histories. A majority of Nigeria’s 36 states got their names from rivers, urban legends, and acronyms of major cities.
Nigeria originated from British colonial rule in the latter part of the 19th century. It took its present territorial shape with the merging of the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and the Northern Nigeria Protectorate by Lord Fredrick Lugard in 1914.
In this article, we shall take a look at 26 interesting facts about Nigeria’s 36 States.
Nigeria’s 36 States
1. If you alphabetically list the capitals against the states, including the FCT, the capital of OGUN would be MAIDUGURI, while only 4 states will still retain their capitals: ENUGU, GOMBE, RIVERS, and SOKOTO.
2. The slogan or appellation for BORNO is ‘HOME OF PEACE‘.
3. CROSS RIVER is two and a half times bigger in land size than OSUN. Yet, it has 18 local government areas while OSUN has 30 local government areas.
4. NIGER is 21.35 times larger than LAGOS, while LAGOS is three times more populous than NIGER.
5. CROSS RIVER is the only state that has a tourist centre in nearly all its L.G.As. That is why it is called ‘THE PEOPLE’S PARADISE‘.
6. With the current rate of environmental degradation in the South-South, environmental experts have predicted that the whole of BAYELSA may be underwater by the year 2050.
7. EDO is the only state in the South-South without direct access to the Atlantic Ocean.
8. LAGOS is 20% water, and it is the state with the most bridges in the country.
9. KANO has the highest number of Local Government Areas in Nigeria (44) while BAYELSA has the lowest (8).
10. OGUN, KATSINA and NIGER are the only states to have produced two Heads of State/Presidents.
11. OGUN has produced the most Deputy Heads of State/Vice Presidents in the country (4).
12. AKAMKPA, a local government in CROSS RIVER, is larger than ANAMBRA and LAGOS in land mass.
13. ANAMBRA is the second-most densely populated state in Nigeria after LAGOS. It also has the lowest poverty rate in Nigeria.
14. IBADAN, capital of OYO State, has more local government areas (11) than BAYELSA (8).
15. The longest driving distance between two State capitals is IKEJA (LAGOS) to MAIDUGURI (BORNO) with a distance of 1,714 km.
16. KOGI is the only State of Nigeria’s 36 States that shares a boundary with 10 other States and the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Abuja, to the North.
The 10 States are:
Nasarawa – to the North-East,
Benue – to the East,
Enugu – to the South-East,
Anambra – to the South,
Delta – to the South-South,
Edo – to the South-West,
Ondo – to the West,
Ekiti – to the West,
Kwara – to the North-West,
Niger – to the North.
Interestingly, the name “Nigeria” was allegedly coined in the capital, Lokoja, by Flora Shaw Lugard in 1897 while gazing at the River Niger, which she originally named ‘Niger-area‘.
17. IBADAN is larger in size than EKITI, ABIA, EBONYI, IMO, ANAMBRA and LAGOS.
It is more populous than ONDO, OSUN, KOGI, ZAMFARA, ENUGU, KEBBI, EDO, PLATEAU, ADAMAWA, CROSS RIVER, ABIA, EKITI, KWARA, GOMBE, YOBE, TARABA, EBONYI, NASARAWA, BAYELSA and ABUJA, FCT.
And it is more industrialised than SOKOTO, JIGAWA, ADAMAWA, TARABA, PLATEAU, EBONYI, EKITI, OSUN, BAYELSA, CROSS RIVER, KWARA, KOGI, KADUNA, KEBBI, GOMBE, YOBE, ZAMFARA, SOKOTO, BAUCHI, BENUE, BORNO, and ABUJA, FCT.
18. OGUN is the most industrialised state in Nigeria.
19. At 60 mph, it takes the Nigerian locomotive train 11 hours and 24 minutes to pass through NIGER.
20. It takes a vehicle travelling at an average speed of 100 km/hr, 1 minute 30.22 seconds to cross the River Niger Bridge at LOKOJA, KOGI.
21. Taxis and buses in LAGOS are yellow because humans see yellow faster than any other colour, which is important in avoiding accidents.
22. CROSS RIVER, KWARA, and PLATEAU are the only states whose first two letters are consonants.
23. All states that start with the letter A also end with the letter A, and their capitals too ending with the letter A: ABIA (Umuahia), ADAMAWA (Yola), ANAMBRA (Awka), except AKWA-IBOM (Uyo).
24. None of Nigeria’s 36 States has the letters Q and X.
25. EKITI State is the only state in South-West Nigeria without the letter ‘O’.
26. Of Nigeria’s 36 States, 25 of them, LAGOS, OYO, ONDO, OSUN, EKITI, KWARA, KOGI, DELTA, EDO, RIVERS, IMO, ENUGU, EBONYI, AKWA-IBOM, CROSS RIVER, BENUE, NASARAWA, TARABA, GOMBE, ADAMAWA, ZAMFARA, KEBBI, JIGAWA, KADUNA, and YOBE, have not produced either a Prime Minister, Head of State or President.
Want to understand what really happened during Nigeria’s first military coup? Read A Carnage Before Dawn. It offers a carefully researched, vividly told account of January 15, 1966, through a storytelling style that will keep you glued to the book’s pages.
You can get the e-book here and the paperback here.
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