List of Nigerian traditional states

There are many traditional states in Nigeria. A partial list follows. Although the traditional rulers no longer officially have political power, they still have considerable status in Nigeria and the power of patronage.[1] Except where otherwise noted, names of traditional rulers are based on the World Statesmen.org list.[2]

State	Region	Ethnic Group	Capital	Present ruler	Ruler from	Title	Notes
Abuja							Now the Suleja Emirate
Abureni Kingdom	Southsouth	Ogbia	Iduma	Collins Ebi Daniel	2008	Olila-Ebhugh
Adamawa	North		Yola	Muhammadu Barkindo Aliyu Musdafa	2010	Lamido
Agaie	North	Nupe	Agaie	Yussuf Nuhu	2014	Etsu
Agbor	South	Igbo	Agbor	Benjamin Ikechukwu Kiagborekuzi I	1979	Obi or Dein
Ake	Southwest	Yoruba	Abeokuta	Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo III	2005	Alake	Part of the confederation of Egbaland
Akure	Southwest	Yoruba	Akure	Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade Aladelusi	2015	Deji
Akwa Akpa	Southeast	Efik	Calabar	Bassey Ekpo Bassey II	2008	Edidem
Bade	North	Kanuri	Gashua	Abubakar Umar Suleiman	2005	Mai-Bedde
Bashar State	North	Basharawa	Bashar	Adamu Idris	1963	Sarki
Bauchi	North	Hausa/Fulani	Bauchi	Rilwanu Adamu Jumba	2010	Emir
Benin	South	Edo	Benin City	Ewuare II	2016	Oba
Bida	North	Nupe	Bida	Yahaya Abubakar	2003	Etsu
Biu	North		Biu	Umar Mustafa Aliyu	1989	Emir
Birnin Gwari	North	Gwari/Hausa	Birnin Gwari	Zubairu Jibrin Mai Gwari II	1993	Emir
Bonny	South	Ijaw	Bonny	Edward Asimini William Dappa Pepple III	1996	Amanyanabo	Also called Okolo-Ama
Borgu	North	Bariba	New Bussa	Muhammad Haliru Dantoro Kitoro IV	2015	Emir	Formed by merging Bussa and Kaiama
Borno	North	Kanuri	Maiduguri	Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai El-Kanemi	2009	Shehu
Brass	Southeast	Ijaw	Brass, Nigeria	Alfred Diete-Spiff		Amayanabo	Once part of Nembe
Bussa							See Borgu
Calabar (Old)							see Akwa Akpa
Calabar (New)							see Kalabari Kingdom
Damaturu	North	Kanuri	Damaturu	Hashimi II El-Kanemi		Emir
Daura	North	Hausa/Fulani	Daura	Faruk Umar Faruk	2007	Emir
Dikwa	North	Kanuri	Dikwa	Mohammed Masta II Ibn Alamin El-Kanemi[3]	2010	Shehu	Divided into Bama and Dikwa Emirates in 2010
Edem	Southeast	Igala/Igbo	Edem	Nwabueze Aniekwempaha Ezea II	July 2009	Eze Edem	The king's traditional salutation is Agaba-Idu. Formerly known as Christopher Nwabueze Ezea II, he took a Regnal name on the anniversary of his Decennial on the throne.
Edo							See Benin
Eko							see Lagos
Ekpeye Kingdom	Southsouth	Ekpeye	Ahoada	Robinson Okpoluwon Robinson CON	1978	Eze Ekpeyelogbo
Eri	Southeast	Igbo	Aguleri	Chukwuemeka Eri, Ezeora XXXIV	1976	Eze Eri	The Custodian of the Sacred Ovo Eri
Fika	North	Bole	Potiskum	Muhammadu Abali Ibn Muhammadu Idrissa	2009	Moi	Distinct from the Potiskum Emirate, also based in Potiskum
Gobir	North	Hausa/Fulani	Sabon Birni			Sarkin	Originally a Hausa city-state, conquered by the Fulani in the 19th century
Gombe	North	Hausa/Fulani	Gombe	Abubakar Shehu Abubakar	2014	Modibo
Gujba Emirate	North		Gujba	Shettima Muktar Ibn Ali Gangaram	2000	Emir	Formerly part of the Fika Emirate
Gumel	North	Hausa/Fulani	Gumel	Ahmad Muhammad Sani dan Maina Muhammad	1981	Emir
Gusau	North	Hausa/Fulani	Gusau	Muhammadu Kabir Danbaba	1997	Emir or Sarkin Katsina	The rulers of Katsina and Maradi also use the title "Sarkin Katsina"
Gwandu	North	Hausa/Fulani	Gwandu	Muhammadu Iliyasu Bashar		Emir
Hadejia	North	Hausa/Fulani	Hadejia	Adamu Abubakar Maje	2002	Emir
Ibadan Kingdom	Southwest	Yoruba	Ibadan	Saliu Adetunji	2016	Olubadan
Idah							see Igala
Idoani	Southwest	Yoruba	Idoani	Olufemi Olutoye	2014	Alani
Idoma Kingdom	Southeast	Idoma	Otukpo	Elias Ikoyi Obekpa Och'Idoma IV		Och'Idoma
Igala	North	Igala	Idah	Idakuwo Ameh Oboni	2012	Ata
Igbirra	Southwest	Igbirra	Okene	Ado Ibrahim	1997	Ohinoyi
Ijebu Kingdom	Southwest	Yoruba	Ijebu Ode	Sikiru Kayode Adetona Ogbagba II	1960	Awujale
Ijebu-Remo	Southwest	Yoruba	Sagamu	Babatunde Adewale Ajayi	2017	Akarigbo	See also Ijebu Kingdom, List of the Lords of Remo
Ijesaland							see Ilesa
Ile Ife	Southwest	Yoruba	Ife	Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II	2015	Ooni	One of the two ranking Yoruba monarchs
Ilesa Kingdom	Southwest	Yoruba	Ilesa	Gabriel Adekunle Aromolaran II		Owa
Ilorin	North	Fulani/Yoruba	Ilorin	Ibrahim Sulu Gambari		Emir
Ipokia Kingdom	Southwest	Yoruba	Ipokia	Raufu Oladeinde Adetunji Adeole Onigbaale III	1985	Onipokia
Isedo	Southwest	Yoruba	Ila Orangun	Oyedeji Ajide		Obalumo	Related to the Isedo Clan (with its own Obalumo) of the Igbomina state of Oke Ila Orangun
Itele	Southwest	Yoruba	Itele, Ijebu-East	Mufutau Adesanya Kasali Iboriaran I	2003	Moyegeso	See also Ijebu Kingdom, Jones Adenola Ogunde Adeyoruwa II reigned until 1996
Itsekiri							see Warri
Iroko Kingdom	Southwest	Yoruba	Iroko	Olasunkanmi Abioye Opeola, Kurunloju I	2011	Oniroko
Ikale Kingdom	Southwest	Yoruba	Ikoya Ikale	George Faduyile, Adegun ll	1998	Abodi	Paramount Rulers of Ikale land Okitipupa and Irele local government
Ilaje Ugbo kingdom	South west	Obatala\Yoruba	ugbo	Frederick obateru Akinruntan		Olugbo	Paramount rulers of Ugbo kingdom
Jajere Emirate	North	Fulani, Kanuri, Karekare and Ngizim	Tarmuwa	Hamza Mai Buba Ibn Isa Mashio	2000	Emir, Mai, Lamido or Sarkin Jajere	divided into Jajere & Ngelzarma Emirates
Jama'are Emirate	North		Jama'are	Muhammadu Wabi IV dan Muhammadu Wabi	1975	Emir
Jema'a Emirate	North		Jema'a	Muhammadu dan Isa	1999	Emir
Jos	Middle belt		Jos	Jacob Gyang Buba	2009	Gbong Gwon
Jukun							see Wukari
Kaiama							Merged with Bussa into Borgu
Kalabari	Southeast	Ijaw	Buguma	Theophilus J.T. Princewill, Amakiri XI	2002	Amanyanabo
Kano	North	Hausa/Fulani	Kano	Aminu Ado Bayero	2020	Emir
Katagum	North	Fulani/Kanuri	Katagum	Umar Muhammadu Kabir Umar	2017	Emir
Katsina	North	Hausa/Fulani	Katsina	Abdulmumini Kabir Usman	2008	Emir or Sarkin Katsina	The rulers of Gusau and Maradi also use the title "Sarkin Katsina"
Kazaure	North	Hausa/Fulani	Kazaure	Najib Husaini Adamu		Emir
Kebbi	North	Hausa/Fulani	Birnin Kebbi	Sama'ila Muhammad Mera	1996	Amir Argungu
Keffi Emirate	North		Keffi	Muhammadu Cindo Yamusa II		Emir
Kontagora	North	Hausa/Fulani	Kontagora	Saidu Namaska dan Malam	1974	Sarkin Sudan
Koton Karifi	North	Ebira	Koton Karifi	Shuaibu Mamman Lafiya[4]	1970	Ohimege
Lafia	North		Lafia	Sidi Bage	2019	Emir
Lafiagi Emirate	North	Nupe	Lafiagi	Haliru Kawu	1975	Etsu	Fulani jihad state founded 1824
Lagos State	Southwest	Yoruba	Lagos	Rilwan Babatunde Osuolale Aremu Akiolu I	2003	Oba	Formerly the Eko state, a vassal of the Benin empire
Lapai	North	Nupe	Lapai	Umaru Bago Tafida	2002	Etsu
Lere	North		Lere	Umaru Mohammed Sani		Emir
Machina	North		Machina	Bashir Albishir Bukar[5]		Emir
Misau Emirate	North		Misau	Ahmed Suleiman	2015	Emir
Mubi Emirate	North		Mubi	Abu Bakar `Isa Ahmadu		Emir
Muri Taraba	North	Hausa/Fulani	Muri Taraba	Abbas Tafida[6]	1988	Emir
Nasarawa Emirate	North	Hausa/Fulani	Nasarawa	Ibrahim Usman Jibril	2018	Emir
Nembe	Southeast	Ijaw	Nembe	Edmund Maduabebe Daukoru, Mingi XII	2008	Amanyanabo
Nembe Bassambiri	Southeast	Ijaw	Bassambiri			Amanyanabo
Ningi	North	Hausa/Fulani	Ningi	Yunusa Muhammad Danyaya		Chief
Nnewi	Southeast	Igbo	Nnewi	Kenneth Onyeneke Orizu III	1963	Igwe
Nri	Southeast	Igbo	Igbo-Ukwu	Enweleana II Obidiegwo Onyeso	1988	Eze Nri
Obioko Kingdom	Southeast		Obioko	Ekpo Eyo Abassi Eyo III	2008	Obong
Oke Ila Kingdom	Southwest	Yoruba	Oke Ila	Olufemi Oladapo Babalola		Obalumo	Related to the Igbomina state of Isedo
Oke-Ona Egba	Southwest	Yoruba	Abeokuta	Adedapo Adewale Tejuoso Karunwi III	1989	Oshile	Part of the confederation of Egbaland
Okolo-Ama							Otherwise known as Bonny since colonial times
Okpe	South-South	Urhobo	Orerokpe	Orhue I	2006	Orodje
Okrika	Southeast		Okrika	Alfred Semenitari Abam Ado IX	2002	Amanyanabo
Igbomina Kingdom	North Central	Yoruba	Omu-Aran	Charles Oladele Ibitoye Adogbajale Bi Ileke II	1993	Olomu	Related to the Igbomina state in general
Owu	Southwest	Yoruba	Abeokuta	Olusanya Adegboyega Dosunmu II	2005	Olowu	Part of the confederation of Egbaland
Ondo	Southwest	Yoruba	Ondo	Adesimbo Victor Kiladejo	2006	Osemawe
Onitsha	Southeast	Igbo	Onitsha	Nnaemeka Alfred Ugochukwu Achebe	2002	Obi
Opobo	Southeast	Ijaw	Ikot-Abasi	Daneson Douglas Jaja V	2002	Amanyanabo
Oshogbo	Southwest	Yoruba	Oshogbo	Jimoh Oyetunji Olanipekun	2010	Ataoja
Owerri	Southeast	Igbo	Owerri	Emmanuel E. Njemanze	1989	Ozuruigbo
Owo	Southwest	Yoruba	Owo	Gbadegesin Ajibade Ogunoye	2019	Olowo
Oyo	Southwest	Yoruba	Oyo	Lamidi Adeyemi III	1970	Alaafin	One of the two ranking Yoruba monarchs
Pategi	North	Nupe	Pategi	Umar Bologi II	2019	Etsu
Potiskum	North	Ngizim	Potiskum	Umar Bubaram[7]		Emir	Not to be confused with the Fika Emirate, based in the same town
Sokoto	North	Hausa/Fulani	Sokoto	Sa'adu Abubakar	2006	Sultan	See also List of Sultans of Sokoto
Suleja	North	Hausa/Fulani	Suleja	Awwal Ibrahim	2000	Sarkin Zazzau	Formerly Abuja Emirate
Tiv	Middle belt	Tiv	Gboko	James Ayatse	2016	Tor Tiv
Tula Chiefdom	North	Tula	Kaltungo, Gombe	Abubakar Buba Atare II	2009	Mai
Ubani							see Bonny
Warri	Southwest	Itsekiri	Warri	Ogiame Ikenwoli I	2015	Olu	Formerly Olu of Itsekiri. See also Warri Crisis
Ugbo-Igbo	Southeast	Igbo	Ugbo town	Godwin Ebem Udeonu	October 1978	Igwe
Rano	North	Hausa/Fulani	Wase	Muhammadu Sambo Haruna	October 2010	Emir	Fulani Emirate
Wukari	Middle belt	Jukun	Wukari	Shekarau Angyu Masa Ibi Kuvyon II		Aku Uka
Yauri	North	Hausa/Fulani	Yauri	Muhammad Zayyanu		Sarkin
Zamfara Emirate	North	Hausa/Fulani	Gusau	Muhammad Attahiru Ahmad		Sarkin
Zaria							Alternate name for Zazzau Emirate
Zazzau	North	Hausa/Fulani	Zaria	Shehu Idris	1975	Sarkin	The ruler of the Suleja Emirate also uses the title "Sarkin Zazzau"

See also

• Nigerian Chieftaincy
• Nigerian traditional rulers

References

1. Chris Ewokor (1 August 2007). "Nigerians go crazy for a title". BBC News. Retrieved 2010-09-01.
2. "Traditional States of Nigeria". WorldStatesmen.org. Retrieved 2010-09-01.
3. Abdulkareem Haruna (28 March 2010). "Kingmakers Crown New Shehu of Dikwa". Daily Independent. Retrieved 2010-09-01.
4. PIUS ALAO (2009-10-26). "Otaru Tasks Ebira Nation On Unity". Nigerian Observer. Archived from the original on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2010-09-04.
5. "Machina Emirate Council". Machina Emirate. Archived from the original on 2009-02-09. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
6. Tashikalmah Hallah (13 July 1988). "Emir of Muri Crisis Resolved - Nyame". Daily Trust. Retrieved 2010-09-04.
7. Japhet Madaki (9 August 2010). "Mai Potiskum hails appointment of Bauchi Emir". Peoples Daily. Retrieved 2010-09-01.

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