Lokoja (lōkōjä'), town (1987 est. pop. 45,600), central Nigeria, at the junction of the Niger and Benue rivers. Lokoja is the trade and distribution center for an agricultural (chiefly cotton) region and has food-processing industries. Iron ore deposits serve the nearby Ajaokuta mill. In 1859 a British trading and missionary settlement was founded in Lokoja. From 1867 to 1869 a British consulate was maintained there. In 1900, Lokoja served as the staging point for the British conquest of N Nigeria and became the temporary capital of the protectorate of Northern Nigeria.
Lokoja
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Lokoja is the capital city of Kogi State, in central Nigeria, and is a port on Niger River.[1]
History
Founded by William Balfour Baikie according to european historical records although, there have been indigenous people living in the area for thousands of years, Lokoja was the capital of British Northern Nigeria Protectorate and remained a convenient administrative town for the British colonial government after the amalgamation of Northern and Southern Nigeria Protectorates into one nation called Nigeria in 1914.<ref name="world statesmen">""WorldStatesmen.org"". http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Nigeria.htm#Northern%20Nigeria. Retrieved 2007-04-06.</ref>
The first Governor General Lord Frederick Lugard ruled the new nation of Nigeria from Lokoja town. The city has since grown to an estimated 63,075 inhabitants,<ref name="world gazetteer">""The World Gazeteer"". http://www.world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?men=gpro&des=gamelan&geo=352134674. Retrieved 2007-04-06.</ref> and it is a centre of trade of its agricultural region because it sits at the confluence of the Niger and Benue rivers.<ref name=britannica/> Lokoja is also close to the new Federal capital of Nigeria Abuja. Near Lokoja (in Ajaokuta) are metallurgy facilities and iron ore mines.
References
- ^ ""Encyclopædia Britannica"". http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article-9048796. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
Coordinates: 7°49′N 6°45′E / 7.817°N 6.75°E
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 | Benue (river, Western Africa) |
| Niger (river, Africa) |
| William Balfour Baikie |
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