Niger Province was created by the British in 1908 and was called Nupe Province from 1918 to 1926 it included; Abuja, Agaie, Bida emirates and other federations.

In 1926 Niger province became the southern part of the North-Western State, in 1976 it became Niger state excluding the newly created Abuja federal capital territory.

Niger state has 25 local government areas and a population of 5,556,247, according to 2016 projected populations, published by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Here are ten interesting facts about Niger State.

  1. Niger state is the largest State in Nigeria (76,363KM2) which is 10% of the total land area of Nigeria
  2. Niger state is bigger than 10 specific states in the country combined, ie: Lagos, Anambra etc.
  3. Niger state is named after River Niger, the third-longest river in Africa,
  4. Niger State is the acclaimed “Power House” of the nation because it houses the three Hydro-Electric Dams: Shiroro Hydro-Electric Dam; Kainji Hydro-Electric Dam; and Jebba
    Hydro-Electric Dam.
  5. Niger state is the biggest rice producer in the country. According to the Agricultural Performance Survey done by Amahdu Bello University in 2017, Niger  State produced 545,700 metric tonnes (MT) of rice to top the national production output for the 2017 wet season.
  6. Niger State is one of the richest in the country in terms of tourism. Some of the Tourist attractions are Zuma Rock, Gurara falls, Baro Empire Hill, Lord Lugard Colonial ruins at Zungeru, Nagwamatse Well and Kainji Lake National Park.
  7. The 85% of the people in the State are farmers while the other 15% are involved in vocations such as white-collar jobs, business, craft and arts.
  8. Niger state produced two military Head of state for the country: Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar
  9. There are three major ethnic groups (Nupe, Gbagyi, and Hausa) in the State, other tribal
    groups include – Kadara, Koro, Baraba, Kakanda, GanaGana, Dibo, Kambari, Kamuku, Pangu, Dukkawa, Gwada and Ingwai.
  10. The State lies on latitude 80° to 11°:30’ North and Longitude 03° 30’ to 07° 40’ East. The State is bordered to the North by Zamfara State, West by Kebbi State, South by Kogi State, South West by Kwara State, North-East by Kaduna State and South-East by
    FCT. The State also has an International Boundary with the Republic of Benin

SOURCES:

  • STATISTICAL YEARBOOK 2011 from State Bureau of Statistics, Niger State Planning Commission