The History of Nigeria will be said to be incomplete without mentioning Lokoja, capital of Kogi State. Many renowned world figures had visited or worked in the town, which became the state headquarters following the creation of nine states by the General Ibrahim Babagida military administration on the 27th August 1991.
In 1830, when Mungo Park and Lander Brothers discovered the confluence of the River Niger and River Benue in the ancient town.
The history continued with Bishop Ajayi Crowther, who was the first Nigerian Christian Bishop, who carried out his missionary activities in Lokoja from 1845.The colonial government of Nigeria under the leadership of the British Lord, Sir Fredrick Lugard, took off from Lokoja as the first capital of Nigeria in 1900.
After the end of the colonial era in 1960, the ancient town continued to witnesses many visitors because of its strategic location, due to tourist attractions and the abundant mineral deposits in and around the town.
Obajana Cement Company, located just a few kilometers from Lokoja, as well as Ajaokuta Steel Company, are some of the few mineral deposit factories in the area.
Historical relics such as the Lugard House, the famous confluence of rivers Niger and Benue, the first primary school in Northern Nigeria, the First Cantonment Church, the first hospital in Northern Nigeria, Iron of Liberty, graveyards of the deposed Northern Emirs and the Europeans’ cemeteries are major tourism potentials which continue to attract people from all works of life to the town.
Many relations of the Europeans workers of the United African Trading Company (UTC), soldiers as well as missionaries buried in European Cemetery are trooping to Lokoja to see the tomb of their departed great-grand parents and pay tribute to them.
The Cemeteries which are located in three different places within Lokoja Township hold six to eight hundred graves of Africans and Europeans tombs which was said to have largest concentration of European graveyards in Nigeria.
Lokoja is a mini Nigeria as many tribes abound thus accentuating the various diverse and attractive cultural activities that place through the year this has further qualify it to be said to be a melting point of Nigeria tourism.
But as the Nigeria has attained the independence age of 51, many reactions have continue to trail the position of Lokoja as the first capital of the Nigeria as to whether it has fared well.
Divergent opinions greeted the developmental status of Lokoja which is now a state capital.
The State governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris who spoke through his Director General Media Matters, Mr Richard Elesho, gave a pass mark to his administration in terms of the provision of infrastructural development in the Ancient town.
He said his administration has created a new look for Lokoja with the provision of several housing estates for the state workers as well as construction of befitting Hospital for the residents of the ancient town.
He said the road network and dualisation of the major roads and streets has changed its colonial face.
The governor further disclosed that his administration has developed a master plan that will transform the state into a megacity. A notable plan is the recently approved design for the construction of a megacity around Mount Patty.
The mountain, referred to as Patti, a Nupe word for ‘Hill’, is 1600 feet above sea level. According to the state government, it will host a megacity that will have resort facilities, multipurpose shopping centre and residential houses to compliment the development in Lokoja town.
He said the aim of embarking on the project is to create expansion and allow for people to be free from congestion due to overcrowding in Lokoja Township.
Gov. Idris administration also has Olympic Size Stadium which is 90% complete. He assured that when completed, the town will begin to host international sports competition that will in turn help to boost the economic situation of Lokoja and the state in general.
Although one of the early settlers in Lokoja, Chief Edwin Gwantana who resides in Adankolo community, a suburb of the town, commended the administration in the state for improving the town in terms of development but argued that Lokoja was a town at par with Calabar in Cross Rivers State, Kumasi in Ghana, and Free Town in Sierra Leone, especially given it dual position as former capital of Nigeria and a state headquarters.
Gwantana therefore appealed to the federal government to expedite action on the proposed Mini Port to give Lokoja a sense of belonging among its peers.
Mr. Olufemi Yahaya, a media professional who has been a resident of the town for 20 years, said the development of Lokoja was never a conscious effort by the government but was simply done because of its present status as a state capital.
Yahaya though admitted that there is a great change compared to what existed in 1960 in terms of population and development, even as he called on the federal government to stop paying lip service to the dredging of the River Niger to enhance socio-economic development of Lokoja.
Equally in his contribution, the General Manager of the State Tourism Board, Mallam Momo Jato, has called on the federal government to declare relics in Lokoja as a National Monument, so as to attract more foreign attention to the town. As proof of Lokoja’s importance, Mallam Jato mentioned that Queen Elizabeth came to Lokoja during her visit to Nigeria in 1959 to see the British colonial relics.
He called on the federal government to build an International Park in Lokoja, to be named after Mungo Park. This, according to him, will bring tourists to Lokoja, which in turn will bring in revenue to the former capital of Nigeria and Kogi State specifically.