Know Your Map: The Story Behind Nigeria’s Geopolitical Divisions

🇳🇬 Nigeria Map: Origin, Creation, Divisions & Meaning

What the Nigeria Map Represents Today

Nigeria is a federation in West Africa made up of:

36 states
1 Federal Capital Territory (FCT, Abuja)
Six geopolitical zones used for political and resource planning:
North‑Central, North‑East, North‑West, South‑East, South‑South, and South‑West.
The official country map shows national borders that:

Stretch from the Atlantic Ocean (south)
To Chad in the northeast
To Cameroon in the east
To Niger in the north
To Benin in the west.

This map and the nation it represents was not the product of a single indigenous empire or federation, but rather a colonial creation formalized in the early 20th century under British rule.

How Nigeria’s Map Was Created

Colonial Background (Late 1800s)

Before formal colonial rule, the territory now called Nigeria was inhabited by many independent kingdoms and societies — the Kanem‑Bornu Empire in the northeast, Hausa‑Fulani states in the north, Yoruba states in the southwest, and Igbo and other communities in the southeast and south‑south. Maps of these societies existed locally and in European accounts.

Berlin Conference & Territorial Claims (1884–85)

European colonialism in Africa was governed by the Berlin Conference of 1884–85, where European powers agreed on rules to claim and administer African territories. Although the conference did not specifically draw Nigeria’s current borders, it set the legal framework that allowed Britain to extend influence and formalize territorial control.

Early Maps and the Colonial State

Britain began creating official maps of the area to support administration and military control:

Royal Niger Company Maps were early templates in the late 1800s.
By 1901, a detailed British War Office map covering much of present‑day Nigeria was created for colonial governance and expansion.
A 1932 official Survey Department map captured the Colony

These maps were drawn using the best available geographic and administrative data then available but were designed primarily for colonial administration, resource extraction, and logistics rather than reflecting the social or ethnic complexities on the ground.

Formal Creation of “Nigeria” (1914)

The map took its modern political shape with the amalgamation of the Northern Nigeria Protectorate and the Southern Nigeria Protectorate on January 1, 1914. This was done under the direction of British colonial administrator Sir Frederick Lugard, acting on behalf of the British Crown.

This union created a single political entity called the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria, administered from Lagos.

Naming the Country

The name “Nigeria” itself was coined before formal unification in 1897 by British journalist Flora Shaw (later Mrs. Lugard). She suggested the name in an essay referring to the Niger River and the surrounding territories — combining “Niger” with “-ia” as a conventional country suffix.

Why the Borders Are the Way They Are

Colonial Cartography, Not Indigenous Borders

The boundaries of modern Nigeria do not coincide with pre‑colonial cultural or ethnic territories. Instead, they were drawn through:

Treaties between European powers
Colonial treaties with local leaders
Strategic convenience for the British Empire.

This is why:

Many ethnic groups (Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, etc.) span borders or are split among multiple states or zones.
Pre‑colonial political areas like kingdoms and empires had very different extents and were not the basis of the map used at independence.

Colonial Treaties with Other Powers

For example, Nigeria’s border with Benin was ratified through an Anglo‑French treaty in 1898 and refined in 1906, establishing much of the western boundary.

Internal Divisions: From Regions to States and Zones

Colonial Provinces and Regions

During colonial rule, Nigeria was initially divided into provinces and protectorates:

Northern Nigeria Protectorate
Southern Nigeria Protectorate
Lagos Colony
These were further broken into provinces and districts for administration.

In 1954, the British created three federal regions Northern, Western, and Eastern as part of constitutional reforms toward self‑government.

Post‑Independence Regions and States

At independence in 1960, Nigeria retained regional divisions. Later, the government created smaller states to ensure local representation. This process continued through the late 20th century until 36 states and the FCT (Abuja) were established.

Geopolitical Zones (Modern Administrative Grouping)

The six geopolitical zones widely used today for political planning, resource allocation, and national representation were formalized in the 1990s, largely based on shared ethnic, cultural, and political identities rather than strict geography.

The zones are:

North‑Central
North‑East
North‑West
South‑East
South‑South
South‑West

For example:

South‑East includes Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo — largely reflecting Igbo cultural and historical regions.

These zones are not constitutional units, but they play a key role in governance and resource sharing.

Summary: The Nigeria Map Explained

Aspect	What It Means
Who drew it?	British colonial surveyors, intelligence officers, and administrators with treaties and maps created mainly by the British Empire in the late 1800s–early 1900s.
When was it drawn?	Formal unification in 1914, with detailed maps published through the early 1900s.
Why these borders?	Colonial strategic interests and European diplomatic agreements, not indigenous political boundaries.
Internal divisions?	Evolved from provinces to regions to states and geopolitical zones for modern governance.
Cultural regions vs. map boundaries?	Cultural areas (e.g., Igboland) predate the map and often do not exactly match state or zone boundaries today.

SOURCE :NaijaRush Assignment Desk