A lot Nigerians have no clue how Nigerian states got
their names . INFORMATION NIGERIA in this piece has
compiled them from you .

1. ABIA:
Abia is an acronym derived from the name of
the four main groups of people in the state as
at the time it was formed in 1991 : A ba B ende
I suikwuato A fikpo

2. ADAMAWA:
This state was named after a warrior that
conquered the region in the begining of the
19 th century . His name was Modibbo Adama
Bin Ardo Hassan .

3. AKWA–IBOM:
Akwa Ibom is named after a river , the Qua Iboe
( or Kwa Iboe) River.

4. ANAMBARA :
It was derived from the name of the Oma Mbal
( Omambala) River ( in Ibo, the native name of
the river is Ànyịm Ọma
Mbala).

5. BAUCHI :
There are three versions of how Bauchi got its
name. One version says ‘ Bauchi ’ is Hausa word
meaning the southern flanks of Hausa land.
Tribes living in the southern parts of the Hausa
land were referred to as “ kasashen bauchi ” and
the area they lived in later came to be known
simply as Bauchi . According to the second
version the state was
named for Baushe , a famous hunter who settled
there before the 19 th century while the third
states that ‘ bauchi ’ is Hausa word for slavery
since it was a center for slave raiders .

6. BAYELSA:
Bayelsa was formed as a result of the clamour
from the three LGAs in old River ( Brass LGA
known as BALGA, Yenegoa LGA known as
YELGA and Sagbama LGA – SALGA ) . The name
came about from the combination of their
acronymns. BA + YEL +SA = BAYELSA .

7. BENUE:
It is a word from the Batta language ‘ Binuwe ’
which means ‘Mother of Waters’ .

8. BORNO :
The name was derived from ‘ Borno ’, an
alternative name of the Kanuris who form the
predominant ethnic group in the state .

9. CROSS RIVER :
The state took its name from a River called
Oyono or Cross River .

10 . DELTA:
It was named for the delta of the River Niger
formed as it enters the Atlantic Ocean .

11 . EBONYI:
The state was named after the Aboine River that
cuts through Abakaliki, the state capital.

12. EDO :
Named after the Bini people who had always
referred to themselves as Edo or Iduu.

13. EKITI :
‘Ekiti ’ is a term that is said to denote a
settlement of many hills “ Okiti ”

14. ENUGU:
Enugu derived its name from two local words
enu ugwu which means ‘ top of the hill ’ .

15. GOMBE :
Named after the dialect of Fulani language
( Fulfulde) spoken in the area ‘Gombe’ .

16 . IMO:
This state is named after the Imo River ( Imo
Mmiri) .

17. JIGAWA:
The state was named after its distinctively
golden- coloured soil, Jigawa.

18 . KADUNA:
The state after the crocodiles in Kaduna River .
Kadunas is Hausa plural word for crocodiles .

19 . KANO :
The state was named after a blacksmith of the
Gaya tribe who settled in the area while
sourcing for iron stone . His name was Kano .

20 . KATSINA :
Katsina was named after the wife of the local
ruler known as Janzama . Her name was Katsina.

21. KEBBI:
Legend has it that Kebbi was named after the
Ka ’abba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia .

22. KOGI:
The name Kogi was said to have be derived
from ‘ kogin’ , hausa for river . This is to
represent the fact that the two biggest Rivers in
Nigeria, River Niger and River Benue form a
confluence in the state .

23. KWARA :
This was named after the River Niger which
forms the Northern border of the state . The
Nupes used to call the river Kwara.

25. LAGOS:
The name is a Portuguese word for lakes. The
Portuguese were the first set of Europeans to
reach Lagos in 1472 . The name was inspired by
the lagoons and rivers in Lagos.

26 . NASARAWA :
It was so named by the founder of Nasarawa
kingdom, Makama Dogo .
Nasarawa means Victorious.

27. NIGER :
Named after the popular River Niger .

28 . OGUN :
Named after the Ogun River .

28 . ONDO :
This was named after the settlers of the old
Ondo Kingdom . Ondo is a word for settlers .

29 . OSUN:
Like a number of other Nigerian states, it was
also named after a river ; River Osun.

30 . OYO :
It was named after the Old Oyo empire .

31. PLATEAU :
The state was named for the Jos Plateau .

32. RIVERS :
A state with many water bodies , Rivers State
was named for many of the rivers present in the
area.

33. SOKOTO :
Named after the defunct Sokoto Caliphate.
Sokoto is the anglicized version of the Arabic
word ‘ suk’ which means ‘ market’ or ‘ place of
commerce’ . Or “ assukuut” which means “ silence ”
in Arabic .

34. TARABA:
The state was named after the Taraba River .

35. YOBE :
The state was named after Komadugu Yobe
( Waube or Ouobe ) or River Yobe ( or River of
Yo).

36 . ZAMFARA :
Zamfarawa is one of the sub dialects of Eastern
Hausa linguistic group and that is where the
name came from zan- fara noma

https://www.informationng.com/2016/08/see-where-your-nigerian-state-got-its-name-from.html

.

Wow very informative & educative. Big up OP, am saving this page.

Let me sleep first...

75percent of these state names derived from rivers related. And yet, water na wahala in Nigeria. I smell leadership incapability.

Post No Bill...

Nigeria and naming things after rivers be like


even naija got it's name from river niger in the EAST.

who origin of names don epp?

Too local n straight forward why water ? Hian

water is life

These useless 36 states must be dissolved and the country should return to Regions the way it was before the boffoon called Gowon embarked on the stupid quest of creating States so that he and his fellow Northerners could implement divide and rule.

Nice info, never knew that...