Twelve Nigerian Cities from Sokoto to Owerri

Sokoto stands near the confluence of the Sokoto and Rima rivers and was the historic seat of the Sokoto Caliphate. Its recorded founding as a ribat, or military camp, dates to 1809, and today it is the home of the Sultan of Sokoto and a centre of Islamic learning.

Katsina lies about 260 kilometers east of Sokoto, near the border with Niger. It is the capital of Katsina State and the centre of a farming region known for groundnuts, cotton, hides and millet, with a largely Hausa and Fulani population.

Zaria, formerly Zazzau, is counted among the seven original Hausa city-states and is the capital of the Zazzau Emirate Council. It is also home to Ahmadu Bello University, which adds a modern educational role to its long history of scholarship, craft and trade.

Kaduna was established by British colonial administrators in the early twentieth century as a planned administrative and military centre, and it became the political capital of Northern Nigeria. Its 2006 census population was recorded at 760,084, and textiles were long its economic mainstay.

Jos is the capital of Plateau State and sits on the Jos Plateau at an elevation of about 1,217 meters. Large cassiterite deposits made it a tin mining centre under British rule, and its cooler climate has made it a favoured holiday destination.

Makurdi is the capital of Benue State and sits on the Benue River in the Middle Belt. The river divides the town into north and south banks, joined by a railway bridge built in 1932 and a dual carriageway bridge commissioned in 1978.

Benin City is the capital of Edo State and was the seat of the Benin Empire. It is renowned for the Benin Bronzes, brass and bronze sculptures made at the royal court, most of them taken by a British expedition in 1897 and still the subject of restitution efforts.

Warri lies on the Warri River in the Niger Delta and is an oil-industry hub with a refinery, petrochemical facilities and a seaport. Its urban population was about 363,400 in 2016, and it is home to the Itsekiri, Urhobo and Ijaw peoples.

Calabar is the capital of Cross River State, on the Calabar and Great Kwa rivers in the southeast. It was originally known as Akwa Akpa in the Efik language, and it has been promoted as the tourism capital of Nigeria since improvements in the early 2000s.

Uyo became the capital of Akwa Ibom State on 23 September 1987, when that state was created from the former Cross River State. Ibibio is its main indigenous language, and the University of Uyo has its main campus there.

Aba began as a market town of the Ngwa clan of the Igbo people and grew after a British military post was placed there in 1901 and a railway to Port Harcourt was finished in 1915. With an estimated 2.53 million people in 2016, it is the largest city in southeastern Nigeria.

Owerri, the capital of Imo State in the heart of Igboland, is traditionally said to have been founded in the 14th century by Ekwem Oha. It served as the final capital of the breakaway Republic of Biafra in 1969, after Nigerian forces captured Enugu and Umuahia.