Kaura Namoda

Kaura Namoda is a town and Local Government Area in Zamfara State, Nigeria. It covers an area of 868 square kilometres and had a population of over 281,367 at the 2006 census. The town was founded in 1807 by Muhammadu Namoda, a prince of the Alibawa ruling family of Zurmi, who fought alongside the Sokoto jihadists and was appointed Sarkin Zamfara, although Zamfara never became an emirate. In the early twentieth century it was an important regional centre, largely because it was the terminus of the railway; it is still served by a station at the end of a branch of the western line of the national railway network, and in 2014 the line was proposed to be rehabilitated and extended to Niamey in Niger. The town is home to the Federal Polytechnic, Kaura-Namoda.