The Lokoja town
Lokoja is an historical town in Nigeria of national significance. The first Governor General of Nigeria Lord Frederick Lugard, during the colonial period ruled Nigeria from Lokoja. The old residence of this first ruler which today is a tourist relic could as well be referred to as Nigeria’s first state house. The strategic location of the town made it attractive to European Merchants and missionaries in the early nineteenth century. The town also served as a centre where seized slaves were released after the abolishment of slave trade. Traditionally, commerce in this ancient town was fishing, farming and boat rides. Today, the town is still influential not only as the confluence town but because it is a nodal town and the only town that links all the regions in Nigeria. Beside this, the town also shares a border with the Nigeria Federal Capital Territory.
The town Lokoja is the capital city of Kogi State in Nigeria located in the North-central part of Nigeria with over 60,000 people. Lokoja is privileged to be the place where river Niger and river Benue converge. River Niger from its origin in the Guinean highlands in Guinea passed through Mali, Niger, Benin Republic (4 countries) before reaching Nigeria. The river is a major source of economic activities for inhabitants across the rivers banks and a natural habitat for aquatic animals.
The Confluence in Lokoja
At the confluence in Lokoja is a plain beautiful landscape, calm water surface dotted with green vegetation that in no way obstructs visualisation. At the tip of the confluence is a narrow mass of land that can be developed for tourists to embark on from a boat, there they can see the bigger Niger, brownish in colour.
To the right and a clearer river Benue to the left and the mixture of the river southward this takes the appearance of the larger river Niger. From the confluence two villages can also be seen from the river bank. A total of 36 towns are located at the bank of river Niger across five countries including Bamako the capital of Mali and Niamey the capital of Niger, Onitsha an important commercial city in Nigeria and Lokoja the confluence town. Total length of river Niger is about 4180 km, basin area is 2,117,700 km.sq. and discharge rate (volume of water passing through a point in a given time) at 5589 m.cu/s. River Benue is also another river of great significance not only to Nigeria but also to other African countries. It originates from the Adamawa plateau, and passes through 18 towns in Africa across Cameroon and Nigeria. The total length of the river is 1400 km. Both rivers are entirely navigable.

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