Progressive Creation of States In Nigeria From Three to Thirty-Six.

We should Begin With The Meaning Of A State
What is a state?
A state is a politically coordinated collection of individuals occupying a topographical element with a well genuine government. You can see our exhaustive post on State and its elements here.

How Did Nigeria Move From The Initial 3 Areas To The Last 36 States?
The following Is The Course of events Of State Creation In Nigeria
1960 – 1963 => Northern Area, Western District and Eastern Locale.

1963 – 1967=> Northern Area, Western District, Mid Western Locale (cut out of Western Area), Eastern Area.

General Yakubu Gowon Made The Accompanying States
1967 – 1976 => Northern Area was isolated into North Eastern State, North Western State, Kano, Kaduna, Kwara, Benue-Level. Lagos (cut out of the Western Area), Western State. Mid Western area was renamed Bendel. Eastern Area was isolated into East Focal State, Cross Waterway and Streams.

General Murtala Mohammed Made The Accompanying States
1976 – 23 September, 1987 => Abuja (FCT) was cut out of Niger State. North Western State was partitioned into Sokoto and Niger, while North Eastern State was isolated into Borno, Gongola and Bauchi. Benue-Pleateau was seperated into Benue and Level. Western State was partitioned into Oyo, Ogun and Ondo. East Focal State was partitioned into Anambra and Imo.

General Ibrahim Babangida Made The Accompanying States
23 September, 1987 – 27 August, 1991 => Katisna was cut out of Kaduna. Akwa Ibom additionally appeared.

27 August 1991 – Oct. 1996 => Abia appeared. Gongola was partitioned into Adamawa and Taraba. Enugu was made. Bendel was partitioned into Edo and Delta. Jigawa was cut out of Kano and Yobe, out of Borno. Kebbi was made from Sokoto and Osun from Oyo. Kogi additionally appeared.

General Sani Abacha Made The Accompanying States
1996 – 1998 => Ebonyi, Bayelsa, Nasarawa, Zamfara, Gombe and Ekiti were made.

That is the course of events of state creation in Nigeria.