After having a meeting with our writers and came up with a post titled: “States and Capital in Nigeria and their slogans” others laughed out loud and said kids do not surf the internet so the need for this post online is insignificant at the moment. To prove our point we thought it necessary to physically carry out a survey about how many adults can recite the states and capital in Nigeria without missing out on any, the result we got was surprising because more than 80% of adult asked could barely recite the complete states and their respective capitals in Nigeria then it dawned on us how important and helpful this post be to the general public.
Discussing about Nigeria’s states and capitals in other words mean discussing the history and geopolitical zoning of Nigeria. Do you know that most states and capitals in Nigeria were created by the past military heads of states? This is going to be an interesting and very educative posts for those interested in how the states were created and the history of Nigeria from a holistic point of view.
Before Nigeria gained independence in 1960 and subsequently became a republic in 1983, there were no states nor capitals in Nigeria rather what was present as at then was regions. Nigeria as at then was divided into four major regions; Western region, Eastern region, Northern region and the Mid-Western region and these regions had their various heads.
Not until 1967 when General Yakubu Gowon through a coup d’état autocratically seized power from the then Prime Minister, Tafawa Balewa, this was the first Coup d’etat in Nigeria and the first move was to dissolve the 4 regions and immediately, he created twelve states out of them and this marked the beginning of the creation of states and capitals in Nigeria.
Out of the 4 regions (Western, Eastern, Northern and the Mid-Western region) 12 states were formed by former military head of states, General Yakubu Gowon as seen below:
- Lagos State (Federal Territory of Nigeria).
- North-Western State comprising Sokoto and Niger Provinces.
- North-Central State comprising Katsina and Zaria.
- Benue/Plateau State comprising Benue and Plateau Provinces.
- Western State making up the current Western Region.
- Mid-Western State comprising the present Mid-Western State.
- East-Central State comprising the present Eastern Region excluding
Calabar, Ogoja and Rivers Provinces. - South-Eastern State: These state was made up of Calabar and Ogoja Provinces.
- Rivers State: The current Ahoada, Brass, Degema, Ogoni and Port
Harcout Divisions - Kano State now the current the Kano Province.
- North-Eastern State: Bornu, Adamawa, Sarduana and Bauchi
Provinces made up this region.
In summary of the above, the first 12 states in Nigeria were created by the 2nd military head of state of Nigeria. Gen. Yajubu Gowon and on the 3rd of February 1976, Murtala Mohammed created 7 (seven) additional new states namely:
- Bauchi state
- Benue state
- Borno state
- Imo state
- Niger state
- Ogun state
- Ondo state
The creation of 7 new states as seen above brought the total number of states to 19 (nineteen) in 1976 and note that out of the 19 states, 12 were created by the military head of state while 7 were formed by a civilian president.
No states were created from 1976 until Gen. Ibrahim Babangida overthrow General Mohammed Buhari before 2 states. Akwa Ibom and Kastina state were created. The current Akwa-Ibom state was then carved out of Crossriver state while Kastina state was formed from Kaduna state and this brought the total number of states to 21. He further changed the capital city of the current Delta state to Asaba.
Fast forward to August 27th, 1991, Gen. Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB) created extra nine (9) states and from Gongola, Taraba and Adamawa states were created while Enugu state was created from Anambra state.
In the early 90s there was no states as Edo and Delta, rather it was known as Bendel state. In 1991 General IBB formed Delta and Edo state out of Bendel state and made Asaba the capital of Delta state. This created uproar because Warri was ideally supposed to be the Capital city of the state but because his late wife, Mariam Babangida a native of Asaba influenced the making of Asaba the state’s capital city.
Furthermore, Yobe was carved out from Borno state, Jigawa state from Kano, Kebbi state from Sokoto, and Osun state was carved out from current Oyo state. The addition of the new 9 states when added to the existing 21 states to make the total number of states in Nigeria 30 (thirty) with their respective capitals. What this literally means is that Gen Babangida created 11 (eleven) states in Nigeria during is rule.
Just listing the 36 states and capitals in Nigeria and their slogans would not be justified without detailing their history and the presidents and military heads of states that created them. This is why we are taking cursory look into them so other readers who stumble on this post can be well informed as regards the number of states and capitals in Nigeria, how they came into existence and their various slogans for reference or research purposes.
Creation of states did not stop during Gen. IBB’s rule, Gen. Sani Abacha came into power in 1993 and through the National Constitutional Conference (NCC), more states were created and this gave birth to the six (6) new states as seen below:
- Ebonyi state
- Bayelsa state
- Nasarawa state
- Zamfara state
- Gombe state
- Ekiti state.
Creation of the new 6 states made up the total number of states and capitals in Nigeria to 36 states plus Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Now that we are through with how the states and capitals in Nigeria were formed and their respective years of creation, we will be listing the 36 states and capitals in Nigeria and their slogans in a tabular format. When we say slogan we mean what the states are known for, that is, their identification.
List of States And Capitals In Nigeria And Their Slogans
| STATE | CAPITAL | SLOGAN |
| Abuja | FCT | Center of Unity |
| 1. Abia | Umuahia | God’s Own State |
| 2. Adamawa | Yola | Land of Beauty, Sunshine and Hospitality |
| 3. Akwa Ibom | Uyo | Promised Land |
| 4. Anambra | Awka | Home For All/ Light of the nation |
| 5. Bauchi | Bauchi | Pearl of Tourism |
| 6. Bayelsa | Yenagoa | Glory of all Lands |
| 7. Benue | Makurdi | The Nigeria’s Food Basket |
| 8. Borno | Maiduguri | Home of Peace |
| 9. Cross River | Calabar | The Nation’s Paradise |
| 10. Delta | Asaba | The Big Heart |
| 11. Ebonyi | Abakaliki | Salt of the Nation |
| 12. Edo | Benin | The Heartbeat of the Nation |
| 13. Ekiti | Ado-Ekiti | Fountain of Knowledge |
| 14. Enugu | Enugu | Coal City State |
| 15. Gombe | Gombe | Jewel in the Savannah |
| 16. Imo | Owerri | The Eastern Heartland |
| 17. Jigawa | Dutse | The New World |
| 18. Kaduna | Kaduna | Centre of Learning |
| 19. Kano | Kano | Centre of Commerce |
| 20. Katsina | Katsina | Home of Hospitality |
| 21. Kebbi | Birnin Kebbi | Land of Equity |
| 22. Kogi | Lokoja | The Confluence State |
| 23. Kwara | Ilorin | The Place of Harmony |
| 24. Lagos | Ikeja | Centre of Excellence |
| 25. Nassarawa | Lafia | Nigeria’s Home of Solid Minerals |
| 26. Niger | Minna | The Power State |
| 27. Ogun | Abeokuta | Gateway State |
| 28. Ondo | Akure | Sunshine State |
| 29. Osun | Osogbo | State of the Living Spring |
| 30. Oyo | Ibadan | Pace Setter |
| 31. Plateau | Jos | Home of Peace & Tourism |
| 32. Rivers | Port Harcourt | Treasure Base |
| 33. Sokoto | Sokoto | The Seat of the Caliphate |
| 34. Taraba | Jalingo | Nature’s Gift to the Nation |
| 35. Yobe | Damaturu | The Young Shall Grow |
| 36. Zamfara | Gusau | Home of Agricultural Products |
All states in Nigeria are abundantly blessed with rich mineral resources, though some slogans attached to their states are as a result of what the state produces. It would be worthy to note that capital cities do not change except they are politically motivated hence the states and capitals in Nigeria will remain like this for years to come.
As for slogans, a change is possible but this seldom occurs however should there be any, we shall update this post to keep it fresh.
Conclusion
From the above, we can draw an informed conclusion that all states in Nigeria were created by the heads of states with the exception of the 7 states created by Murtala Mohammed in 1976. Though excuses have been drawn to the fact that until 1998 Nigeria had been under the military rule so it is expected.
For now the 36 states and capitals in Nigeria alongside their slogans will remain the same in the foreseeable future except the secession other tribes are seeking for comes to fruition.
Hope you found what you came here for? as usual if you have any question, opinion or input as regards the states and capitals in Nigeria and their slogans, kindly reach us via our contact us page or our comment section below and we shall respond as quickly as possible.
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