Benin–Nigeria border in the context of "Lagos State"

Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of 923,769 square kilometres (356,669 sq mi). With a population of more than 236 million, it is the most populous country in Africa, and the world's sixth-most populous country. Nigeria borders Niger in the north, Chad in the northeast, Cameroon in the east, and Benin in the west. Nigeria is a federal republic comprising 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, where its capital, Abuja, is located. The largest city in Nigeria by population is Lagos, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world and the largest in Africa.

Nigeria has been home to several indigenous material cultures, pre-colonial states and kingdoms since the second millennium BC. The Nok culture, c. 1500 BC, marks one of the earliest known civilisations in the region. The Hausa Kingdoms inhabited the north, with the Edo Kingdom of Benin in the south, Igbo Kingdom of Nri in the southeast and in the southwest, the Oyo Empire. The present day territory of Nigeria was home to a vast array of city-states. In the early 19th century the Fula jihads culminated in the Sokoto Caliphate. The modern state originated with British colonialization in the 19th century, taking its present territorial shape with the merging of the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and the Northern Nigeria Protectorate in 1914. The British set up administrative and legal structures and incorporated traditional monarchs as a form of indirect rule. Nigeria became a formally independent federation on 1 October 1960. It experienced a civil war from 1967 to 1970, followed by a succession of military dictatorships and democratically elected civilian governments until achieving a stable government in the 1999 Nigerian presidential election.

Kwara (Yoruba: Ìpínlẹ̀ Kwárà) is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger State, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the international border with Benin. Its capital is the city of Ilorin and the state has 16 local government areas.

Of the 36 states of Nigeria, Kwara is the ninth largest in area but the sixth least populous with an estimated population of about 3.2 million as of 2016. Geographically, Kwara is split between the West Sudanian savanna in the east and the Guinean forest–savanna mosaic ecoregion in the rest of the state. Important geographic features include rivers with the Niger flowing along the northern border into Lake Jeba before continuing as the border while the Awun, Asa, Aluko, and Oyun rivers flow through the interior. In the far northwest of the state is the Borgu section of the Kainji National Park, a large national park that contains populations of grey heron, kob, hippopotamus, African bush elephant, olive baboon, and roan antelope, along with some of the last remaining West African lions on earth. In the far southwest, a small part of the Old Oyo National Park contains crowned eagle, martial eagle, African buffalo, oribi, and patas monkey populations.

The South West (often hyphenated to the South-West) is one of the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria representing both a geographic and political region of the country's southwest. It comprises six states — Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, and Oyo.

The zone stretches along the Atlantic seaboard from the international border with Benin Republic in the west to the South South in the east with the North Central to the north. The South West is split with the Central African mangroves in the coastal far south while the major inland ecoregions are the Nigerian lowland forests ecoregion in the south and east along with the Guinean forest–savanna mosaic ecoregion in the drier northwest. The weather conditions vary between Nigeria's two, distinctive seasons; the rainy season (March - November) and the dry season named the Harmattan (from November - February). The Harmattan is a dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind (of the same name), which blows from the Sahara over West Africa into the Gulf of Guinea. During this season, the wind transports the eponymous Harmattan dust, particles of fine Saharan sand.

Niger State is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kaduna State and the Federal Capital Territory, to the north by Kebbi State and Zamfara State, and to the south by Kogi and Kwara states, while its western border makes up part of the international border with Benin. It is the largest state in the country by area. The state capital is Minna, and the state is divided into 25 local government areas. Other major cities include Bida, Kontagora, and Suleja.

Of the 36 states of Nigeria, Niger is the eleventh most populous with an estimated population of about 6.7 million as of 2020. Geographically, the state is split between the West Sudanian savanna in the east and the Guinean forest–savanna mosaic ecoregion in the rest of the state. The Kainji Lake as well as the Niger and Kaduna rivers are the state's major water bodies, with the River Niger flowing through from Kainji Lake through the western part of the state and forming the border with Kwara State. Niger State is also home to the Kainji, Jebba, and Shiroro Dams, which are major sources of hydroelectric power. Also situated there is Kainji National Park, the largest National Park in Nigeria, which contains Kainji Lake, the Borgu Game Reserve and the Zugurma Game Reserve.

Ogun StateListen (Yoruba: Ìpínlẹ̀ Ògùn [ìk͡pĩ́lɛ̀ ògũ̀]) is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It is bordered to the south by Lagos State and the Bight of Benin, to the east by Ondo State, and to the north by Oyo and Osun states while its western border forms part of the national border with the Republic of Benin. The capital and largest city is Abeokuta, and the state is divided into 20 local government areas.

Of the 36 states in the country, Ogun is the 24th largest in area but among the top fifteen most populous, with an estimated population of about 6.4 million as of 2020. Geographically, the state lies primarily in the tropical Nigerian lowland forests ecoregion, although parts of the state's north transition into the Guinean forest–savanna mosaic and some of the coastal south reach the Central African mangrove ecoregion. The Ogun and Yewa rivers are the state's major waterways while the Omo Forest Reserve in the southeastern part of the state is one of the most important conservation areas in the country—home to a variety of bird species along with some of Nigeria's last remaining Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee and African forest elephant populations.