₦airaland Forum

Population of Cities in 1963 in Nigeria
Check your own cities

Igbos have returned home to build their land as Enugu, Owerri, Onitsha and Aba are now more populated than any city in Yoruba land apart from Lagos, Ibadan, Ilorin and Akure. According to the number of hotels and bank branches as available online. All those Eastern cities are about the same size now by number of hotels and bank branches but they are individually like half of Ibadan.

One of the reason we have high unemployment rate increased is because our population increased but most industries we had then had fold up

How come I can't spot my City, abiii na Old age dey affect my higher centers

lawani:
Igbos have returned home to build their land as Enugu, Owerri, Onitsha and Aba are now more populated than any city in Yoruba land apart from Lagos, Ibadan, Ilorin and Akure. According to the number of hotels and bank branches as available online. All those Eastern cities are about the same size now by number of hotels and bank branches but they are individually like half of Ibadan.

There's nowhere in the world where human population is determined by the number of hotels and bank branches.
WTF? 🤥

richiemcgold:
There's nowhere in the world where human population is determined by the number of hotels and bank branches.
WTF? 🤥

Human population will be directly proportional to the number of buildings for one.

lawani:
Human population will be directly proportional to the number of buildings for one.

Don't change your initial argument. You specifically mentioned hotels and bank branches.

BTW, we should be mindful of what we post on a forum like this. Many people come here to learn. We don't have to mislead them with wrong information.

richiemcgold:
Don't change your initial argument. You specifically mentioned hotel and bank branches.

BTW, we should be mindful of what we post on a forum like this. Many people come here to learn. We don't have to mislead them with wrong information.

Ife has like 50 bank branches and Owerri has over 100. There is a similar ratio for hotels. Do you need any other information to conclude about how their population compare? However Owerri as a capital city will automatically have more banks

lawani:
Human population will be directly proportional to the number of buildings for one.

Onitsha metropolitan area is the second largest built up area in Nigeria.. Google is free

lawani:
Ife has like 50 bank branches and Owerri has over 100. There is a similar ratio for hotels. Do you need any other information to conclude about how their population compare? However Owerri as a capital city will automatically have more banks

Nonsense

mrvitalis:
Onitsha metropolitan area is the second largest built up area in Nigeria.. Google is free

Anambra still has Awka and others. Onitsha is not the only city in Anambra and Anambra as a whole is not up to seven million people. There are hundreds of settlements in Anambra and the total population of Onitsha metropolis can not exceed three million.

And seven million for Anambra is very generous because NIN registration is like 2.3 or 2.4 million

lawani:
Igbos have returned home to build their land as Enugu, Owerri, Onitsha and Aba are now more populated than any city in Yoruba land apart from Lagos, Ibadan, Ilorin and Akure. According to the number of hotels and bank branches as available online. All those Eastern cities are about the same size now by number of hotels and bank branches but they are individually like half of Ibadan.

Bros you need sense.

This was the controversial 1963 census that set Nigeria on a path and trajectory of no return. If you want accurate census check the census before 1940, and you can use the right census toll to extrapolate for 2026

lawani:
Anambra still has Awka and others. Onitsha is not the only city in Anambra and Anambra as a whole is not up to seven million people. There are hundreds of settlements in Anambra and the total population of Onitsha metropolis can not exceed three million.

And seven million for Anambra is very generous because NIN registration is like 2.3 or 2.4 million

You know u can Judy google or us AI?
What I told you wasn't my opinion but expart fact

This is 2026 dropping your opinions as facts is stupidity

A large percentage of these urban areas now have become deserted.

Everyone has run to Lagos.

Cho cho cho. .

You see details and data to smash your lies and you run from thread.

lawani:
Anambra still has Awka and others. Onitsha is not the only city in Anambra and Anambra as a whole is not up to seven million people. There are hundreds of settlements in Anambra and the total population of Onitsha metropolis can not exceed three million.

And seven million for Anambra is very generous because NIN registration is like 2.3 or 2.4 million

We became comfortable after discovery of crude oil and started knacking anyhow

lawani:
Igbos have returned home to build their land as Enugu, Owerri, Onitsha and Aba are now more populated than any city in Yoruba land apart from Lagos, Ibadan, Ilorin and Akure. According to the number of hotels and bank branches as available online. All those Eastern cities are about the same size now by number of hotels and bank branches but they are individually like half of Ibadan.

Yoruba is always your standard.
Quit this inferiority complex.

Strange to note that hotel and banks now equate population

Nigeria no fit better again.

The country has folded up but we are still forcing it and people are dying.

lawani:
Human population will be directly proportional to the number of buildings for one.

Flawed argument. No pint. Just quit this trash talk.

Lol. Na wa oo. People won't give up so easy .
Current form: I don't know where people always see their data from. Onitsha has population than Kano or what am I reading up there? Do we even need to argue about this?

This is Chatgpt:

Here are 10 major cities in Nigeria by population (based on widely accepted metro/urban estimates):


---

🇳🇬 Top 10 Cities in Nigeria (by Population)

1. Lagos
– ~15–20 million
– Nigeria’s largest city and economic powerhouse


2. Kano
– ~4–5 million
– Major commercial hub in the north


3. Ibadan
– ~3–4 million
– One of the largest cities by land area in Africa


4. Abuja
– ~3 million
– Capital city, fast-growing urban center


5. Port Harcourt
– ~2–3 million
– Oil and gas hub of the Niger Delta


6. Benin City
– ~1.5–2 million
– Historic city and regional economic center


7. Kaduna
– ~1.5–2 million
– Important industrial and military base


8. Onitsha
– ~1.5–2 million
– Home to one of Africa’s largest markets


9. Aba
– ~1–1.5 million
– Known for manufacturing and trade


10. Ilorin
– ~1 million
– Growing educational and administrative hub




---

Quick insight

Lagos alone is larger than some countries in population.

Northern cities like Kano grow fast due to trade and migration.

Southern cities like Onitsha and Aba dominate in commerce and entrepreneurship.



---

If you want, I can break this down into fastest-growing cities, richest cities, or best cities for business in Nigeria—those are more useful if you're thinking opportunities.

This is Claude:

Here are the **16 Nigerian cities with over 1 million people (2026 estimates)**:

Here are all **16 Nigerian cities with over 1 million people (2026 estimates):**

| # | City | Est. Population | State |
|---|------|----------------|-------|
| 1 | **Lagos** | 17,803,700 | Lagos |
| 2 | **Kano** | ~3,600,000 | Kano |
| 3 | **Ibadan** | ~3,500,000 | Oyo |
| 4 | **Abuja** | ~3,000,000 | FCT |
| 5 | **Port Harcourt** | ~2,300,000 | Rivers |
| 6 | **Benin City** | ~1,800,000 | Edo |
| 7 | **Maiduguri** | ~1,500,000 | Borno |
| 8 | **Zaria** | ~1,400,000 | Kaduna |
| 9 | **Aba** | ~1,300,000 | Abia |
| 10 | **Jos** | ~1,200,000 | Plateau |
| 11 | **Ilorin** | ~1,100,000 | Kwara |
| 12 | **Ogun** | ~1,090,000 | Ogun |
| 13 | **Enugu** | ~1,060,000 | Enugu |
| 14 | **Abeokuta** | ~1,040,000 | Ogun |
| 15 | **Onitsha** | ~1,020,000 | Anambra |
| 16 | **Warri** | ~1,000,000 | Delta |

> ⚠️ **Note:** Nigeria's last official census was conducted in 2006, so all current figures are projections and estimates [Traders Union](https://tradersunion.com/ratings/prop/common/with-ea/) — numbers vary depending on the source. Lagos alone has grown by over 647,000 people in the last year, a 3.77% annual change, making it one of the fastest-growing megacities in the world. [Contego](https://contego.agency/blog/best-prop-firms-for-forex-eas/)

Wow! Many osun towns plenty there sha

Chest beaters... How related is numbers of banks and hotes between east and west related to the topic.?

Inferiority complex !

lawani:
Igbos have returned home to build their land as Enugu, Owerri, Onitsha and Aba are now more populated than any city in Yoruba land apart from Lagos, Ibadan, Ilorin and Akure. According to the number of hotels and bank branches as available online. All those Eastern cities are about the same size now by number of hotels and bank branches but they are individually like half of Ibadan.

This was still a few years after census data was used as colonial era tax data so naturally the citizens were still hiding in the hills.

Once they realise census data will be used in sharing money, in a feeding bottle economy not only have they reappeared in large numbers but they brought with them their shadows and souls and spirits and all their prelife and afterlife personalities aka ghosts to register as over 200 million.

kettykin:
This was the controversial 1963 census that set Nigeria on a path and trajectory of no return. If you want accurate census check the census before 1940, and you can use the right census toll to extrapolate for 2026

lol
But it was the Hausa and Igbo jointly in govt then.Why did it become controversial if it were not because they lowered the numbers for SW cities.

lawani:
Igbos have returned home to build their land as Enugu, Owerri, Onitsha and Aba are now more populated than any city in Yoruba land apart from Lagos, Ibadan, Ilorin and Akure. According to the number of hotels and bank branches as available online. All those Eastern cities are about the same size now by number of hotels and bank branches but they are individually like half of Ibadan.

all these one na story… nothing consine life.

What was in Ogbomosho that made it more populated than places like Warri and Benin city

kettykin:
This was the controversial 1963 census that set Nigeria on a path and trajectory of no return. If you want accurate census check the census before 1940, and you can use the right census toll to extrapolate for 2026

Nigeria has never had any credible census since the prospect of independence became feasible. Until today.

Too much fake stuff.

richiemcgold:
There's nowhere in the world where human population is determined by the number of hotels and bank branches.
WTF? 🤥

You dey mind that tribal bigot. He's trying to claim igbos are the people who made those yoruba land to have more population that all the south east states even as far back as 1963 but he also faild to tell us what took the igbos to those places in the first place if we agree that its them that are living in other people's region as far back as 1963.

I think he should add palm trees to the variables of what constitute population...Aeon omo ale ti o ni ile

Why was Owerri not a major town then?
These days, Owerri people claim that Owerri was the headquarters of present Abia, Rivers and Imo States; and deserves the the present awful location of 100% of federal development projects for Imo state in Owerri, no considerstion for any other part of Imo state.

Again according to History, The 1962 census figure was manipulated by NPC govt of Tafawa Balewa.

I suspect Ladoke Akintola and his NPC collaborators rigged the figures of Ogbomosho.