Nigerian States, Capital and Slogans

Nigeria has 36 states. The Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, is often listed alongside them — giving 37 federating units in total — but the FCT is a territory administered by a minister rather than an elected governor, so it is not counted as a state.

The 36 states of Nigeria and their capitals are: Abia (Umuahia); Adamawa (Yola); Akwa Ibom (Uyo); Anambra (Awka); Bauchi (Bauchi); Bayelsa (Yenagoa); Benue (Makurdi); Borno (Maiduguri); Cross River (Calabar); Delta (Asaba); Ebonyi (Abakaliki); Edo ( Benin City); Ekiti (Ado-Ekiti); Enugu (Enugu); Gombe (Gombe); Imo (Owerri); Jigawa ( Dutse); Kaduna (Kaduna); Kano (Kano); Katsina (Katsina); Kebbi (Birnin Kebbi); Kogi (Lokoja); Kwara (Ilorin); Lagos (Ikeja); Nasarawa (Lafia); Niger (Minna); Ogun (Abeokuta); Ondo (Akure); Osun (Osogbo); Oyo (Ibadan); Plateau (Jos); Rivers (Port Harcourt); Sokoto (Sokoto); Taraba (Jalingo); Yobe (Damaturu); Zamfara (Gusau). The table above lists them alphabetically with each state's official slogan and current governor.

Every Nigerian state has an official slogan or nickname — for example Abia (“God's Own State”), Adamawa (“Land of Beauty”), Akwa Ibom (“Land of Promise”). All 36 state slogans appear in the table above.

The six newest states — Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Gombe, Nasarawa and Zamfara — were created on 1 October 1996 by General Sani Abacha. No new state has been created since, so Nigeria has had 36 states for over 25 years.

Niger is the largest Nigerian state by land area (about 76,363 km²) and Lagos is the smallest (about 3,577 km²). Kano is the most populous state. See all 36 states ranked by size and population.