Ibadan came into existence in 1829.[2] According to local historians, Lagelu, the Jagun (commander-in-chief and generalissimo) of Oyo empire, left the Yoruba kingdom Oyo with some his best warriors from Oyo, Ogbomoso and Ilesa, to found their military outpost to prevent attack on Oyo kingdom from Ijebu and Egba and ado warriors and their allies in Eba Odan, which literally means 'between the forest and plains.' According to HRH Sir Isaac Babalola Akinyele, the late Olubadan (king) of Ibadan (Olu Ibadan means 'Lord of Ibadan'), in his authoritative book on the history of Ibadan, Iwe Itan Ibadan (1911), the first city was destroyed due to an incident at an Egungun (masquerade) festival when an Egungun was accidentally disrobed and derisively mocked by women and children in an open marketplace full of people.

The Portuguese visited Benin City around 1485. Benin grew rich during the 16th and 17th centuries due to trade within southern Nigeria, as well as through trade with Europeans, mostly in pepper and ivory. In the early 16th century the Oba sent an ambassador to Lisbon, and the King of Portugal sent Christian missionaries to Benin. Some residents of Benin could still speak a pidgin Portuguese in the late 19th century.

Onitsha Mmili was known as Ado N'Idu by migrants who departed from the vicinity of the Kingdom of Benin near the far western portion of Igboland (near what is now Agbor), after a violent dispute with the Oba of Benin that can be tentatively dated to the early 1500s. Traveling eastward through what is now Western Igboland (and various towns also called "Onitsha", for example Onicha-Ugbo, "farmland-Onitsha". Onitsha was founded by one of the sons of Chima, the founder of Issele-Uku kingdom. Chima, a prince of the ancient Benin kingdom emigrated, settled and founded now known as Issele-Uku in Aniocha North Local Government Area.

In the 7th century, Dala Hill, a residual hill in Kano, was the site of a hunting and gathering community that engaged in iron work; it is unknown whether these were Hausa people or speakers of Niger–Congo languages.[2] Kano was originally known as Dala, after the hill, and was referred to as such as late as the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th by Bornoan sources.[3]

The Kano Chronicle identifies Barbushe, a priest of a Dala Hill spirit, as the city's first settler. (Elizabeth Isichei notes that the description of Barbushe is similar to those of Sao people.[4]) While small chiefdoms were previously present in the area, according to the Kano Chronicle, Bagauda, a grandson of the mythical hero Bayajidda,[5] became the first king of Kano in 999, reigning until 1063.[6][7] His grandson Gijimasu (1095–1134), the third king, began building city walls at the foot of Dala Hill. His own son, Tsaraki (1136–1194), the fifth king, completed them during his reign.[7]

Awka has a certain kind of aura about it, because it was the place of the blacksmiths that created implements which made agriculture possible. -- Chinua Achebe

Awka is one of the oldest settlements in Igboland established at the centre of the Nri civilization which produced the earliest documented bronze works in Sub-Saharan Africa around 800 AD and was the cradle of Igbo civilization.

The earliest settlers of Awka were the Ifiteana people which translates into people who sprouted from the earth. They were farmers, hunters, and skilled iron workers who lived on the banks of the Ogwugwu stream in what is now known as Nkwelle ward of Awka.

Ekpenyong Offiong Okoho (1786–1805)
Ekpenyong Effiom Okoho Eyamba III (1805–1814)
Effiom Edem Ekpo Effiom I Eyamba IV (1814–1834)
Edem Ekpenyong Offiong Okoho Eyamba V (1834–1847)
Effiom Okoho Asibong I Ekpo Minika (May 1849 - February 1852)
Ededem Effiom II (April 1852 - August 1858)
Eyo Asibong II (March 1859 - August 1872)
Edem Asibong III Eyamba VIII (1872 - May 1879)
Orok Edem Eyamba IX (1880–1896)
Eyo Etinyin

onenaira3:
So it really wasn't the oldest city in Nigeria, talk less Africa. Chai yoloba and rewritten history and self given title..na wa for you people