Waterfalls in Nigeria; The Unknown, The Beautiful and The Untapped

Growing up, I had always dreamt of visiting waterfalls. From the beautiful pictures I saw of Niagara falls in Canada and Victoria falls in Zimbabwe to the movies I watched with scenes of waterfalls and then TLC’s hit song in the early 90’s ‘Chasing Waterfalls’.  The thought of a large body of water, falling from a cliff in an often organized form really intrigued me.

 In my little mind, I could only see one when I travelled abroad because, I was not aware or informed that Nigeria also had its fair share of such natural wonders.  Little did I know that we had at least twenty or more waterfalls in this country.

I embarked on an interesting research recently of waterfalls in Nigeria and discovered quite a number of them. You will definitely be intrigued to know that we have so many of them. I personally have visited six, namely Erin Ijesha waterfalls Osun, Arinta waterfalls Ekiti, Kwa falls Cross river, Gurara falls Niger, and Ezeagu and Ngwo waterfalls, both in Enugu; they were all beautiful.

Here are 20 different waterfalls in Nigeria; they are ranked according to their level of popularity:

• Erin Ijesha waterfall – It is located in Erin Ijesha, Osun state, South-west Nigeria.
• Gurara waterfalls – It is located in Niger state, North central Nigeria along the Suleja-Minna road.
• Farin ruwa waterfall – It is located in Nasarawa state, North central Nigeria.
• Arinta waterfalls Ekiti – It is located in Ekiti state, South west Nigeria.
• Assop waterfalls – It is located in Jos, Plateau state, North central Nigeria.
• Awhum waterfalls – It is located in Udi local government area in Enugu state, South east Nigeria.
• Obudu waterfalls – It is located in the forests of Obudu mountain in Cross river state, South -south Nigeria.
• Kwa waterfalls – It is located in Akampka local government area, Cross river state, South- south Nigeria.
• Ezeagu waterfall – It is located in Ezeagu local government area Enugu state, South East Nigeria.
• Agbokim waterfalls – It is located in Ikom local government area of Cross river state, South-South Nigeria.
• Ngwo waterfall – It is located in Ngwo, Enugu state, South east Nigeria.
• Owu Falls – It is located in Owu, Kwara state, North central Nigeria.
• Matsirga waterfalls Kaduna – It is located in Madakiya, Kaduna, North central Nigeria.
• Ogba waterfalls Anambra – It is located in Owerre Ezukala, a border town in Anambra state, South east Nigeria.
• Oferekpe waterfalls Ebonyi – It is located in Ikwo, Ebonyi state, South east Nigeria.
• Ipole-Iloro waterfalls – It is located in Ekiti state, South West Nigeria.
• Osome falls – It is located in Ukpogo, Kogi state, North central Nigeria.
• Kurra falls – It is located in Kurra, Plateau state, North West Nigeria.
• Mambilla waterfalls – It is located in Mambilla Plateau Taraba state, North east Nigeria.
• Barup waterfalls Gembu Taraba – It is located in Gembu, Taraba state, North east Nigeria.

Erin Ijesha Waterfalls – Osun

Kwa Falls – Cross River

The government definitely has a lot of work to do to improve awareness of these places and also to develop them properly, in to order attract tourists. Tourism can certainly contribute positively to our GDP.

Now the question is how many of these have you visited? Or how many do you intend to visit?

Chiamaka Obuekwe is an adventure junkie, explorer, tour guide and people person. She is the founder of Social Prefect Tours – a tour operating company that promotes African tourism and connects people. Chiamaka is really passionate about changing the face of tourism in Nigeria. She has travelled to 25 states and has fully explored 18, discovering beautiful tourist attractions in Nigeria and sharing them with the world.  Her work has been featured on various media platforms. When she is not travelling, she is either planning tours, dancing, reading or making new friends.