Lokoja

Lokoja is a city in Nigeria. It lies at the confluence of the Niger and Benue rivers and is the capital of Nigeria's Kogi State.

History

Although the area has been inhabited for thousands of years, the present settlement at Lokoja was established in 1857 by the British explorer William Baikie at the site of an earlier model farm constructed during the failed Niger expedition of 1841. Lokoja was the capital of the British Northern Nigeria Protectorate and remained a convenient administrative town for the British colonial government after the amalgamation of Northern and Southern Nigeria in 1914. The first Governor-General, Sir Frederick Lugard, governed the new nation of Nigeria from Lokoja.

The city's population has since grown to an estimated count of over 90,000 inhabitants. It is a trade center with respect to its agricultural products; this is because it is situated at the confluence of the Niger and Benue rivers, and is close to the new federal capital of Nigeria in Abuja. It is also home to Kogi State Polytechnic and the newly established Federal University Lokoja.

Lokoya people

The Lokoya are an ethnic group numbering about 30,000 people living in Eastern Equatoria state, South Sudan

References