Kogi State

Before colonial rule the area was divided between several polities: the Igala Kingdom centred on Idah in the east, the Ebira and Okun communities in the centre and west, and Nupe-related groups along the Niger, parts of which came under the Sokoto Caliphate's sphere in the 19th century.

Lokoja, at the confluence of the Niger and Benue rivers, became an early centre of British activity: a settlement was established there in the 1850s, and it served as the first administrative headquarters of the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria at the start of the 20th century. Local tradition links the coining of the name 'Nigeria' by Flora Shaw (later Lady Lugard) to the Niger at Lokoja, and colonial-era relics such as Lugard's rest house on Mount Patti survive.

After independence the area was split between Kwara and Benue-Plateau (later Benue) states. Kogi State was created on 27 August 1991 from the eastern (Igala) part of Benue State and the south-eastern part of Kwara State, taking its name from the Hausa word for river. It borders ten states and the Federal Capital Territory, more than any other Nigerian state.