Lafia, town, capital of Nasarawa state, central Nigeria. Originally the site of Anane, a small town of the Arago people, Lafia became the capital of a prominent local chiefdom in the early 19th century. During the rule of Mohamman Agwe (1881–1903), the Lafia market became one of the most important in the Benue valley, and a trade route was opened to Loko (56 miles [90 km] southwest), a Benue River port. In 1903 the British, who controlled northern Nigeria, recognized Chief Musa as Lafia’s first emir. The emirate formed the major part of the Lafia Division of Benue province. In 1967 the town became part of Benne-Plateau state, and in 1976 it was allocated to Plateau state. It became the capital of the newly formed state of Nasarawa in 1996.
Modern Lafia is a collecting point for sesame seeds and soybeans and is a trading center for yams, sorghum, millet, and cotton. Besides farming, cotton weaving and dyeing are traditionally important activities of the town’s permanent inhabitants—members of the Arago, Tiv, and Kanuri peoples—while Fulani herdsmen bring their cattle to graze in the vicinity during the dry season. Tin and columbite are mined nearby, and there is a deposit of coal southeast of the town.
In addition to the emir’s palace, Lafia has a central mosque, a Roman Catholic secondary school, the Federal University Lafia (2010), the Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa (1983), and a government health office. Lafia is situated on the trunk railway from Port Harcourt and on the main highway between Makurdi and Jos. Pop. (2016 est.) local government area, 445,300.