Lokoja

Lokoja
LGA and city
Lokoja
Coordinates: 7°49′N 6°45′E / 7.817°N 6.750°E
Country  Nigeria
State Kogi State
Time zone WAT (UTC+1)

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.[1]

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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4]

Near Lokoja, in Ajaokuta, are metallurgy facilities and iron ore mines.

The LGA

Lokoja is also a Local Government Area of Kogi State with an area of 3180 km² and a population of 195,261 at the 2006 census. It is bounded by the Niger in the north and east upstream from the capital until the border with Kwara State, and includes the city of Lokoja. The postal code of the area is 260.[5] f

is kainji dam in kogi state.

Climate

Climate data for Lokoja
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 28
(82)		 31
(87)		 32
(90)		 32
(90)		 31
(87)		 28
(83)		 27
(81)		 27
(81)		 27
(81)		 28
(82)		 29
(84)		 29
(84)		 29.1
(84.3)
Average low °C (°F) 26
(79)		 31
(87)		 31
(88)		 31
(87)		 29
(84)		 27
(80)		 26
(78)		 26
(78)		 26
(79)		 26
(79)		 27
(81)		 27
(81)		 27.8
(81.8)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 5
(0.2)		 10
(0.4)		 41
(1.6)		 97
(3.8)		 150
(5.9)		 155
(6.1)		 168
(6.6)		 170
(6.7)		 211
(8.3)		 122
(4.8)		 13
(0.5)		 3
(0.1)		 1,145
(45)
Source: Weatherbase [6]

References

  1. ↑ "Encyclopædia Britannica". Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  2. ↑ "WorldStatesmen.org". Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  3. ↑ http://um.ase.ro/No13/10.pdf
  4. ↑ Idris Ahmed (October 17, 2005). "Gov. Idris Okays N80m for Kogi Polytechnic-". Newsday. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
  5. ↑ "Post Offices- with map of LGA". NIPOST. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
  6. ↑ "Weatherbase: Historical Weather for Lokoja, Nigeria". Weatherbase. 2011. Retrieved on November 24, 2011.

Coordinates: 7°49′N 6°45′E / 7.817°N 6.750°E