FACTS

​

Capital: Asaba

Motto: The Big Heart of the Nation

Population: 4,098,291 (2005 est.)

​

Local Government Areas:

 

             

             25

 

 

Oshimili, Aniocha, Aniocha South, Ika South, Ika North-East, Ndokwa West, Ndokwa East, Isoko south, Isoko North, Bomadi, Burutu, Ughelli South, Ughelli North, Ethiope West, Ethiope East, Sapele, Okpe, Warri North, Warri South, Uvwie, Udu, Warri Central, Ukwani, Oshimili North and Patani.

​

​

GEOGRAPHY

 

Festivals: 

• Adane-Okpe: this annual event is a rallying point for all Okpe people. It all started when the four Okpe founding brothers, Esezi, Evbreke, Orhoro and Orhue met after the migration of their ancestor from Benin early in the last millennium. The festival is held in Orerokpe, where the meeting point of the brothers is clearly visible.

​

• Ukwata Festival: Usually celebrated in February, this very popular festival is about eating, dancing, peace and love, no fighting, no quarrel allowed. It is the major feast of the Abbi people of Delta State of Nigeria. The festival marks the end of the year's farming activities of Abbi people and ushers in another farming year and other activities.

​

• Aja festival: This literally means the “Festival of Sacrifice” and is celebrated annually in August to appease the gods and mark the beginning of harvest period

​​

• Iwaji festival: This festival is celebrated to commemorate the harvest period particularly the abundance and availability of New Yams.

​​

• Oli Oma Festival: This is a feast day at the end of harvest celebrations during which families give sacrifices to their dead mother. it's kind of a mother's day celebration for deceased mothers.

​​

• Ine or Ekensu: This is a famous festival of the Capital City, Asaba. It is marked by a five day celebration of military-like parades and war dances in each of the five villages of Asaba. The festival is reminiscent of the old battles in which Asaba people distinguished themselves.

​

​

PEOPLE

 

Main ethnic groups: Asaba (Delta Igbo), Aniocha, Ika, Ukwuani , Ndoisimili, Urhobo, Ijaw, Isoko, and Itsekiri

​

Languages: Igbo, Igala, Isekiri, Ezon, and Urhobo

​

IMPORTANT SITES

​

• The Nana's Palace built by Chief Nana Olomu of Ebrohim. He was a powerful 19th century indigenous entrepreneur who traded with the British. The relationship eventually turned sour. Later, he surrendered (not without putting up a fight) and was exiled to Ghana. His personal effects are housed in this grand palace.

​​

• The River Ethiope which is reputed to be the deepest inland waterway in Africa (at 176 km). Its source is at the foot of a giant silk-cotton tree at Umuaja in Ukwuani Local Government Area of the state and flows through seven Local Government Areas in the State. It is a place of worship for Olokun traditional religion and also a common site for faithfuls of the Igbe Religious Movement.

​​

• The Araya Bible Site which houses a copy of the Holy Bible. It is believed that the bible descended to this spot miraculously from heaven around August, 1914. The bible dropped on rain-soaked yam and it didn't get wet. The site now attracts thousands of Christians yearly.

​​

• Demas Nwoko Edifice which was built using traditional materials, designs and construction techniques of the Igbo civilization and the Benin Empire by Demas Nwoko, an architect, builder and artist of international repute from Idumuje-Ugboko, in Aniocha North Local Government Area, Delta State.

​​

• The Mungo Park House which is now the site of the National Museum, Asaba. The house was constructed by the Royal Niger Company (RNC) in 1886 and was used as a colonial administrative headquarters, a military house, the colonial administrative divisional headquarters, the RNC Constabulary building, and the seat of the Urban District Council at different times.

​​

• The Niger Bridge which connects Delta State (by extension, western Nigeria) to the Eastern part of Nigeria. It is a beauty to behold. It was completed in 1965 and cost £5 million. It was damaged during the civil war, but later repaired.

​​

• Lander Brothers Anchorage, Asaba which was built in memory of early British explorers. The complex has a museum, a graveyard, and many artworks and writings. It houses a replica of one of the boats that was used by the brothers.

​​

• Falcorp Mangrove Park

​​

• Warri Kingdom Royal Cemetery which is 512 years old and serves as the resting place of past rulers of Warri kingdom. A tree is planted on each grave.

​

​

QUICK HISTORY

 

Delta State was carved out of the former Bendel State on August 27, 1991. The state was created following agitations for the creation of a separate distinct state by the peoples of the old Delta Province: the Urhobos, Itsekiri, Isoko, Ijaw (Ezon) and Ukwuani (later joined Anioma). There was yet another state creation movement designated as "Niger State" comprising the old midwestern Igbo-speaking Asaba divisions and Ukwuani-speaking Aboh division of the old Midwest region. This was transformed into "Anioma" following the creation of Niger State from the old Northwestern State by the Murtala Muhammed's administration in 1976. The then Military President, Gen Ibrahim Babangida (Rtd) created the state using the name "Delta" advanced by Niger Delta region and "Asaba" a prominent town within the "Anioma" axis as capital. Asaba was designated as capital of the proposed Anioma State. The proposed capital was a virgin land or "Anioma city" in the heart of the two constituent divisions that had evolved to become the Anioma area. Delta state was once integrated in the Mid Western state from 1963 to 1976 and later Bendel state, from 1976 to 1991. The name "Bendel" (Ben-Del) coined from the old Benin and Delta Provinces of Western Region-Delta to reflect the integration of Benin and Delta provinces.

 Delta is an oil producing state of Nigeria situated in the region known as the Niger Delta

​

​

FAMOUS NIGERIANS

​

​

THINGS TO DO WITH KIDS

 

​

 

​

​

​

 

​