Lapai, town and traditional emirate, southeastern Niger state, west-central Nigeria. It lies near the Gurara River, which is a tributary to the Niger River. It was originally inhabited by the Gbari (Gwari) people, who were subject to the Hausa kingdom of Zazzau and, after 1804, to the Fulani emirate of Zaria (to the north). In 1825 the Fulani requested the emir of Gwandu (Gando), the overlord of the western Fulani emirates, to create a new emirate independent of the emirates of Zaria and Agaie (to the west). Thus the Lapai emirate was founded that same year.
Lapai town was burned after the emirate had given military aid to Bida (50 miles [80 km] west) in its campaign against the British Royal Niger Company in 1897. The emirate was incorporated into Niger province in 1908; and, in 1938, its traditional seat was moved to Badeggi-Lapai (now Badeggi) 9 miles (14 km) west.
Lapai serves as a market centre for the sorghum, yams, rice, millet, shea nuts, peanuts (groundnuts), and cotton grown by the area’s Gbari and Nupe peoples. Swamp rice is cultivated in the floodplains of the Gurara and the Niger rivers. The site of a government dispensary, Lapai is located east of Agaie on the road to Abuja. Pop. (2006) local government area, 110,127.