Nigeria's Muslim Kano State Most Populous: 2006 Census

ABUJA (AFP) - Nigeria's most populous state is Kano, in the Muslim-dominated north, according to state-by-state figures from the country's March 2006 census.

Kano has a population of some 9.38 million people, the National Population Commission (NPC) reported Tuesday, putting it ahead of the 9.01 million people living Lagos State, home to the sprawling commercial capital of the same name.

The United Nations put the population of Lagos city at 10.9 million in 1996, projecting it would rise to become the world's third most populous city with 24.6 million inhabitants by 2015.

According to the census, the third and fourth most populous states in Nigeria are Kaduna and Katsina, both in the north and predominantly Muslim, with 6.07 million and 5.79 million people respectively.

The Federal Capital Territory, Abuja has the smallest population of any state with just 1.4 million inhabitants, but has by far the highest rate of population growth, 9.3 percent. The next highest growth rate for a state is 3.5 percent.

NPC chairman Sama'ila Makama in late December announced that Nigeria's total population was growing at an annual rate of 3.2 percent and stood at just over 140 million, a 63 percent increase in 15 years.

The state-by-state figures released Tuesday indicate that the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital together account for 53.59 per cent of Nigeria's population, with the remaining 46.41 per cent in the 17 states of the south.

Census results -- especially the distribution between the Muslim north and the Christian south -- have often sparked controversy in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country.

Demographers and government officials said the latest figures are unlikely to be an exception.

Nigeria is the ninth most populous nation in the world behind Russia (143 million) and Bangladesh (147 million), and ahead of Japan (127 million) and Mexico (107 million).

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070109/wl_africa_afp/nigeriapopulation_070109143247

Kano State = 9,383,682
Lagos State = 9,013,534 million
Kaduna = 6,066,562 million
Katsina = 5,792,578 million
Oyo = 5,591,589 million
Rivers = 5,185,400 million


Reactions.

another wayo again

take a drive to the north and see for urself

u cant compare to the south

i hope they did not count cows again this time

Kano more populated than Lagos ? Please.

This is part of the reason why we have so much instability
in this country - including the Niger Delta crisis. We just
don't play fair.

People are just bent on maintaing the status quo to
any end. I just hope Nigeria doesn't break up. I really
do.

This is ridiculous. There is no way Kano State is more populous than Lagos State, these guys have shot themselves right in the foot. They could have atleast placed Kano second with Lagos first then it will be believable. Oh well, Kano has a large landmass though, something to consider.

Plus who knows, there are lots of Southerners up there anyway.

This is the headline from Vanguard:

Census: Kano beats Lagos

Nigerian newspapers sef, na fight?. . . It's just population figures.

Kano has 370,000 more people than the whole of Lagos state? Is there a seaport in Kano? Are there beaches there? What industries are there?

Who are these phantoms that make up the population of Kano! Welcome to Nigeria's National Population 'ojoro' Commission (NPC)

the same people telling me and arguing with me about the 2006 census fraud are now saying it is ridiculous.

Yes. Kano has more people than Lagos. KANO. KANO?

Wow. Donzman. Wetin happen. Abi in the other thread you where disputing Nigeriaone's assertion the census figures where bullshit.

Kaduna has 6 million people? Where I was born? I was all over that state during my 12 years there back in the late 80s. Except there was a major influx of people to the tune of 5 million since then because in the 80s I doubt there where even up to a million people there at that time.

You guys really should visit the North. Drive around Kano, Jos, Zaria, Kaduna, these so called populous cities. You will be shocked. I can say this with 100% certainty because I was born and raised there and I am not a Hausa Moslem in whose best interest it is to perpetuate this lie.

But if we all want to believe Kano and Kaduna have over 5 million people and Kano is more populated than Kaduna go ahead. Frankly I am done with this discussion as it seems to fall on deaf ears.

I wonder how many cattles' horns where part of the head count this time around?D

its only a fool that will believe this result.Its only in Nigeria we have more people living in the north than south even though elementary geography asserts otherwise. South- Thick forest, swampy, rainforest, more rainfall.
North- savanah, dry land, desert, low rainfall etc
Sudan is slightly more than one-quarter the size of the US  and it has only 41 million because of its topography. Its is the largest country in Africa by land mass and its in Northern Africa.

Guys, I am a northener and to tell u the truth, I am quietly looking at NorthWest Nigeria at the moment.Zamfara, Jigawa, Bauchi are all fraud. The populations of other Northern sections North Central and North west are true, but Zamfara at 3million is a hoax, an unbelievable joke!
Kaduna and Kano are largely populated. One thing you southerners must understand is that Northerners do not populate their major cities, go to the villages and hinterlands and u'll be amazed. Anyone however who tells u that Zaria, Kano or Kaduna metropolis are deserted has lost his senses.

@ Danmasani thanks for your comment, i have been waiting for the comments of a northerner.

Point be made, there is a credibility problem, so we cant agree with one part of the result and disagree with another part. This result is a big joke and an "insult to common sense". Whilst i cannot ascertain the veracity of your claims about the villages in the north. Lets be objective every where in the world the commercial nerve centre are the largest Kano being more populated than lagos is clearly FALSE. How can that be, as Fela would say "Government Magic". Things in Nigeria always go against logic, lagos is a coastal city, commercial nerve centre even the UN postulates lagos as one of the cities with population problems predicting in 2024 or sometin it could be the most populous city in the world, but the federal govt feels that Kano is more populated.

Then Katsina and Kaduna, i know might have a bit of population but PLEASE, these figures are ridicolous my brother attended FGC Kaduna i used to go and see him every visiting day, i just dont know where this people are.

Again i quote someone i never knew i would quote "nigeriaone" when he said its a sad day for nigeria.

Why are you people surprised about the population figures of kano and kaduna?? Kano use to be the second largest city in nigeria after ibadan, and again the second most populated city in nigeria after lagos, and again the 2nd most commercialised city in nigeria after lagos; why is it then a surprise that kano has more population than other states in the country?? what if the population has increased geometrically (sorry exponentially) over the years?? Or have you all forgotten that fertility rate in the hausa northern part of nigeria and kano especially is very high?? one woman can give birth to 12 children or more. Hausas marry more than one wife and one mallam can have more than 30 children from these 4 wives and send some of them to almajiri school which is not obtainable in the south. As for kaduna do not compare kaduna in the 80's with what is on ground in this millenium. The population of kaduna has increased in such a way that social amenities have become insufficient. If you've ever lived in lagos, sometimes in kaduna you will think you are in lagos because of the motor-vehicle hold up and traffic jam as well as human traffic jam in the city. But as for katsina i find it very hard to believe that katsina's population is more than that of oyo state.

@ ishmael, also you doubt the figures of Katsina, but say that Kano is more than Lagos.

Question how can you logically explain this increase in population, fertility is high all around the country that does not explain nottin. The lady my mun buys foodstuff from in Lagos has 12 Kids (9 girls) this girls after playing with the area boys alway give birth every year so please, the low income would always tend to have more kids, its everywhere. Go to the East you would be alarmed theirs is even peculiar cos the high income earners also have many kids.

Migration to Lagos has been on the increase since the last census (assuming that was right) and birth rate also has increased and death rate in lagos is low comparatively health system in both lagos and Kano are good but Lagos might have an edge in terms of personnel, so with migration to Kano not increasing at the same rate as Lagos, birth and death rate almost evening out, what has given rise to this change in population. Please enlighten me?

I was just reading thisday online and looking at Sokoto (3.7) and Zamfara (3.2) they both have about 7 million people, this is the former Sokoto State, how can this be? Please lets call a spade a spade.

really?? but you havnt stated why you disagree??

Lagos has the highest mortality rate in Nigeria. People die or get killed there everyday by unnatural causes.

Well the Census result is out.  I  am not suprised at the outcome because:


1 So many people where not counted in the south. In port harcourt few areas were counted. I do not know whether it was deliberate or logistic problem.

2 Most notherners travelled home to be counted (Smart people).

3. Census officials usually do not insist on seeing how many people are in the household at the time of counting  in muslim north unlike in the south.

4  Finally, the head of NPC is a northerner and will want to maintain the status quo

@ ismael

Please "unnatural causes"" you are talking to an educated person. Infant mortality rate is highest where in Lagos? and life expectancy in Lagos. If you are talking of civil unrest and accidents theres a fair share everywhere.

Life expectancy and infant mortality rate determines the death rate, i.e how mayn children die at birth and how long people live, arguing that kano has a low death rate than lagos is not logical. My statement that death rate is low in lagos is comparatively compared to its likes Kano etc not the international world.

The credibility of the census is questioned thats the point.

Till God knows when I refuse to take that.

buluti:

@ ismael

Please "unnatural causes"" you are talking to an educated person. Infant mortality rate is highest where in Lagos? and life expectancy in Lagos. If you are talking of civil unrest and accidents theres a fair share everywhere.

Life expectancy and infant mortality rate determines the death rate, i.e how mayn children die at birth and how long people live, arguing that kano has a low death rate than lagos is not logical. My statement that death rate is low in lagos is comparatively compared to its likes Kano etc not the international world.

The credibility of the census is questioned thats the point.

Pally understand wetin person dey talk before you respond; please do not crucify me for nothing. I did not talk about infant mortality o!! ,i was talking about mortality in general. Ok no vex, i think i should use death rate may be u go understand me better.

before you eat off your heads

[size=14pt]FACT:
======
The city of Lagos is NOT wholly in Lagos State. It geographically spills into Ogun State[/size]

What is death rate? "Mortality in general" without infant mortality. What is life expectancy.

I dont think there's need. I rest my case.

Stranger12 the city of lagos spills geographically into the lagoon and lekki beach

why are you so concerned about infant mortality?? Please try and look for the meaning of mortality rate before you make any post again.

truth be told the census result is suspect. being a northerner n having lived in d north (even work there now)all my life n schooled in lagos for like 6yrs(tertiary), i cannot in any way fanthom that kano is more populated than lagos.

Except we are considering the fact that people travelled out of lagos during the last census exercise cos Tinubu declared hols during the whole period unlike wat the FG did, that in itself gave lot of people the oppurtunity to leave lagos.

international bodies put the population of lagos above 10million using remote sensing and other statistical inferences cum growth rates and all.

Forget mortality rate either infant or watever, only in a war situation will that amount to something significant. Birthrate and influx of people into a city/place/state is wat actually counts.

Kano has a higher birthrate than Lagos cos of the polygamous nature of the town, but in influx, lagos is only comparable to cities like newyork, tokyo et al.

its not important!!!!
Why is census result and who is more populous an issue? because we want to rely on allocation and not create economy for our state.
You know what I call that? National Laziness.

Hype or no hype the results have been announced, its now left for Nigerians to either accept or reject. Bros buluti and ishmeal make una relax oh and cool temper na we the gofment wey don decide and accepted the results. Even if na cow head we count for north and count fish for atlantic ocean for south eno mean make una dey raise juglar. Buluti wetin be ya bros name wey attend FGC Kad and which year he finish.
Make una no suprise by result from Kastina oh, the state has about 3 border towns, i been dey smuggle before sha before i clean myself join baba for aso rock

why should it surprise people that kano state has more people than lagos state?? Is kano state not 2 times bigger than lagos state in size?? Is kano not a very big commercial city?? Kano has been a centre of commerce even before lagos was discovered. I'm not surprised that kano state has more people than lagos state. Lagos is small but highly populated, but that does not mean that kano cannot be bigger than it in terms of population. Make una no count ogun state join lagos o, because some people dey live for ogun state and dem dey think say na lagos state dem dey. But come to think of it, will the census figures change our corrupt country into good??

Kano cannot be more populated than lagos becuase:

Lagos attracts new persons than any other city in the country. It is the centre of commerce, industry, finance and entertainment and finally it is the fastest growing city in this planet according to CNN.

I was not going to respond to your post as i wont be associated with ignorance until i read your last comments and really thats the summary, the census results changes nothing and as someone noted its all about laziness and allocation.

For the avoidance of doubt read about mortality rate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortality_rate, i do understand beyond your imagination what i am talking about. I have seminar written papers on migration but thats not important any way. If you are interested i can get journals for you where you would read and understand the "economics of migration".

But all said the problem with our dear country is bigger than the census, i enjoy debates so the results provide a forum to analyse how deep the corruption of our nation is. We cant even trust the government to do anything right, so we continue reading meanings into everything they do right or wrong, somebody somewhere would feel marginalised.

@ big sif he finished in 1989/90, cant remember now then it used to be malali village or sometin remembering the airport taxis. If u are around that set i can give u his name.

ishmael:

why should it surprise people that kano state has more people than lagos state?? Is kano state not 2 times bigger than lagos state in size?? Is kano not a very big commercial city?? Kano has been a centre of commerce even before lagos was discovered. I'm not surprised that kano state has more people than lagos state. Lagos is small but highly populated, but that does not mean that kano cannot be bigger than it in terms of population. Make una no count ogun state join lagos o, because some people dey live for ogun state and them dey think say na lagos state them dey. But come to think of it, will the census figures change our corrupt country into good??

The day you spend 4hrs at a stretch in morning rush hr traffic in Kano pls let me know!

Kano a commercial city? Pls could you kindly mention just 5 "BIG" industries in Kano!

I can't believe people are willing to argue that Kano could be more populated than Lagos, flat out ridiculous.

It is a known fact that elections, census, etc are rigged in Nigeria.

What surprises me is how the result was inflated in the Kano without a corresponding trend in Lagos. Hmmmm, it's time we learnt our lessons.

Voters registration is being updated at present. I hope Southerner are registering now. Let nobody complain when we start getting outrageous figures from the north.

The census was designed to fail any way. Thank God tribe and religion were excluded. We would have been told that the north is 100 million and the south 40 million.

Who are we to reject the result? Our governors have accepted it put. We can't explain it by saying that Kano is populated by 6 million traders from the south; the bulk of them coming from Onitsha

I AGREE WITH U. BUT THAT WILL TELL U THE KIND OF LEADERS WE HAVE IN OURS MIDST. OBJ AND HIS DOLLS WILL DO ANYTHING, I MEAN ANYTHING TO GET WHATEVER THING THEY WANT. THAT IS WHY THEY DID NOT ANNOUNCE STATE CENSUS FIGURES ON THE 29TH OF DECEMBER TOGETHER WITH THE GENERAL RESULT. THEY TOOK THEIR TIME AND MANUFACTURED ANOTHET RESULT AND THEN SHOWED US THE ONES THEY WANTED.
I AM JUST TIRED OF THIS COUNTRY. HOW CAN KANO STATE BE MORE POPULATED THAN LAGOS. EVEN BLIND PEOPLE IN INDONESIA KNOWS THAT. THE UNITED NATIONS POSTULATED THAT LAGOS WILL OVERTAKE TOKYO AND NEW YORK IN 15 YEARS TIMES. WHY DIDNT SAY SO ABOUT KANO STATE. OR ARE THEY BEING TELEGUIDED TOO. MAY GOD DELIVER US FROM THESE MONSTERS IN HUMAN FLESH. I BOW.

Breaking News: (Guardian)

"Lagos rejects census figures
The Lagos State Government has rejected the results of the 2006 National Population Census figure allotted to Lagos, stating that the Lagos State�s population is more than the figure released by the National Population Commission.The state Commissioner for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations, Chief Dele Ajomole said this on Wednesday in a telephone conversation. The Federal Government had on Tuesday approved 140 million as the total population of people living in Nigeria out of which Lagos State had 9,013,634.However, Ajomole stated that the figure allotted to Lagos State was smaller compared to what the state government had enumerated, adding that the government outrightly rejected it. The commissioner said that the state was able to enumerate 4.9 million houses during the census with at least three people living in each of the houses." If three people live in a house and we have 4.9 million houses, definitely the population will be about 13 million. Definitely the NPC�s results cannot be right. We reject it," he said. Ajomole explained that there were houses where more than 10 people live in but that he had estimated it to be three so as not to exaggerate the figure"