Why it looks like this

Unlike Nigeria's ancient northern cities, Kaduna has no pre-colonial core: Governor Frederick Lugard chose an almost empty site on the railway in 1913 and had a capital drawn — government quarters, parade grounds and a street grid beside the tracks.

The railway remains the city's spine, with industrial areas and districts strung along it on both sides of the river. Kaduna grew into the north's military and industrial centre, its planned heart surrounded by much larger unplanned growth.