All 36 states in Nigeria have a slogan (or nickname) peculiar to them due to their activities or a record that they have set politically, economically, religiously, and culturally.
Most times, people who are familiar with the history of such a state use the slogan to praise them.
Below is a list of states and their slogan in Nigeria including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, which comes with the motto, “Centre of Unity” because of its geographical location as centre of Nigeria.
| State | Slogan | Remark |
| Cross River State | The People’s Paradise | Apart from Obudu Cattle Ranch, Cross River boasts of other breathtaking places like Slave History Museum, Tinapa Business Resort, and Agbokim waterfalls among others. Judging by all the attraction centres in the state, it prides itself as “The People’s Paradise” A state where everyone who visits doesn’t want to leave because of the paradise-like environment |
| Borno State | Home of Peace | Borno State derives its motto from its peaceful environment before the activities of the deadly terrorist group Boko Haram. Even as terrorists ISWAP and Boko Haram continue to wreak havoc in the state, the Kanuri people are still very lovely people to live with, very hospitable. |
| Adamawa State | Land of Beauty | Adamawa derives its nickname from its beautiful mountainous sites and breathtaking landscape, |
| Bayelsa State | Glory of all Lands | Crude oil, Nigeria’s major revenue, was first discovered in Oloibiri, the reason for the slogan |
| Benue State | Food Basket of the Nation | Benue derives its slogan because of the fact that the state Benue State boasts of rich soil which is good for agricultural products like yam, rice, beans, sweet potato among others |
| Abia State | God’s Own State | Abia derives its moniker from the fact that “Abia” was mentioned in the Holy Bible Luke 1 vs 5 |
| Anambra State | Light of the Nation (formerly home for all) | It came up with its slogan because Anambra has produced prominent men and women who Nigeria proud, from economists to industrialists, from academic to innovators |
| Bauchi State | Pearl of Tourism | Bauchi is home to Yankari game reserve, Shehu Azare Park, Unity, and other tourist attraction centres |
| Akwa Ibom State | Land of Promise | Akwa Ibom gets its nickname from its economic prospect. |
| Delta State | Big Heart Of The Nation (formerly The Finger of God) | Delta’s motto is inspired by the contribution the state makes to Nigeria’s oil revenue. |
| Ebonyi State | Salt of the Nation | Salt is one of the natural resources the state is blessed with. |
| Jigawa State | The New World | It’s surrounded by hills |
| Ekiti State | Land of Honour and Integrity (Formerly known as Fountain of Knowledge) | The state believes that its people who also cherish education so much that Ekiti people are principled due to their display of high dose of integrity and sincerity. Ekiti slogan in in Yoruba means “ile iyi, ile eye” |
| Gombe State | Jewel of the Savannah | It’s covered with expansive savannah |
| Enugu State | Coal City State | The motto of Enugu State is inspired by the large deposit of coal in the state. In fact, a researcher says the coal in Enugu can be a huge source of power to serve the entire country if properly harnessed. |
| Kaduna State | Centre of Learning (formerly Liberal State) | Kaduna is a home to numerous educational centres in the Northern part apart from the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) |
| Edo State | Heartbeat of The Nation | The first set of Europeans had contact with the Benin Kingdom in 1472. It was also the first to establish first diplomatic relationship with the Portuguese. As such, the history of civilisation is incomplete without the Bini people. Civilisation came into Nigeria through them, the reason for the motto, “Heartbeat of the Nation” |
| Kano State | Centre of Commerce | In the Northern part of Nigeria, Kano was the first to open a “modern” market known as Kurmi Market in the 15th century for commercial activity where gets traders from other parts of the region. As such, Kano derives its slogan from that commercial activity as the “Centre of Commerce” |
| Katsina State | Home of Hospitality | Its extraordinary friendliness to strangers makes it the state adopts the nickname “home of hospitality” However, the deadly activities of Boko Haram remnants who are now mildly called “bandits” have eroded that slogan |
| Kwara State | State of Harmony | Its mixed culture of Yoruba and Fulani inspires its motto |
| Imo State | Eastern Heartland (formerly Land of Hope) | It is one of the earliest states in southeastern region |
| Lagos State | Centre of Excellence | Because of its peaceful co-existence of nearly all the ethnic groups in Nigeria. |
| Kogi State | The Confluence State | It is situated at the confluence of the Niger and Benue rivers |
| Nasarawa State | Home of Solid Minerals | Nasarawa is blessed with at least known 20 natural resources out of over 40 mineral resources found in Nigeria |
| Niger State | The Power State | Niger hosts Nigeria’s three major hydro-electric power stations. It powers the country. |
| Ogun State | Gateway State | Religiously, the state is home to many religious camps and prayer centres and to millions of religious Nigerians, serving God and keeping to His wills is the only gateway to heaven. In cross-border trade, Ogun is the gateway to other African countries (most especially the Southwestern region) through Benin Republic. |
| Kebbi State | Land of Equity | |
| Taraba State | Nature’s Gift to the Nation | Because of its ability of properly manage its cultural diversity, its leaders believe Taraba is a nature’s gift to Nigeria |
| Osun State | State of the Living Spring (Land of Virtue) | Osun’s slogan was changed from “The State of the Living spring” to “land of virtue” by former governor Rauf Aregbesola. In Yoruba, it simply means “Ipinle Omoluabi” which is a state that upholds the high moral standard. But the slogan of Osun was reverted to the previous one, “State of the Living Spring” by the PDP government of Sen. Ademola Adeleke on the day he took the mantle of power through an Executive Order on November 27, 2022. |
| Oyo State | Pace Setter State | The state is famous to have set the pace for a lot of record-breaking events e.g Liberty stadium is the first of its kind in Africa; The first television station in Nigeria Western Nigerian Television (WNTV) which later transformed to Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) was the first of kind in Nigeria. The state is home to the first teaching hospital, making it a state that set the pace for others |
| Plateau State | Home of Peace and Tourism | The serene landscape combined with beautiful attraction centres makes Plateau prides itself as the home of peace. However, the recent attacks on some communities in the state have dealt a huge blow on tourist attractiveness of the state |
| Sokoto State | Seat of the Caliphate | It is the seat of former Sokoto caliphate |
| Ondo State | Sunshine State | It got the appellation because of its abundant resources |
| Rivers State | Treasure Base of the Nation | It derives its nickname from its economic endowment and abundant God-given resources |
| Yobe State | Pride of the Sahel | It stretches along the Sahara |
| Zamfara State | Farming is Our Pride | Over 80 percent of the people in Zamfara are farmers, they cultivate legumes which require irrigation hence its nickname, “farming is our pride” |
| FCT | Centre of Unity | It’s the centre of Nigeria |
Wrapping up:
It’s also very important to note that appellations of some states in Nigeria are more popular than others, especially states that are known for commercial activities and political dominance such Lagos and Kano.
Historically, when you hear, “Seat of the Caliphate” what comes to mind is Sokoto State because it’s the seat of the former Sokoto Caliphate.
Some state governors changed the slogan of their state e.g Rauf Aregbesola (ex-Osun governor).
The ex-governor of Delta State, Emmanuel Uduaghan changed the appellation of Delta to “The Finger of God” during his administration, but Ifeanyi Okowa reverted it to “Big Heart Of The Nation”
