Abuja is Nigeria's purpose-built federal capital, conceived in 1975 and officially inaugurated in 1991 to replace the overcrowded Lagos. Sitting at the geographic centre of the country, the city was designed from scratch on a blank plateau — wide boulevards, modern government ministries, and an orderliness unusual for West African capitals. It is cleaner, quieter, and more expensive than Lagos, and noticeably more relaxed.
The city's centrepiece is Aso Rock, a 400-metre granite monolith that looms behind the Presidential Villa and dominates the skyline from much of the city. Around it, the Maitama and Asokoro districts are home to embassies, luxury hotels, and the kind of restaurants that cater to diplomats. Wuse and Garki are more workaday, with markets, cheaper restaurants, and street food stalls — the Wuse Market is the busiest in the capital and one of the best places to eat in the city. The sprawling Gwarimpa district to the north has grown into a city within a city, popular with a younger, entrepreneurial crowd.
For most visitors Abuja is a transit stop or a business destination rather than a holiday in itself. There are limited traditional sights, and the city's youth means it lacks the deep history of Kano or Calabar. But it has good international restaurants, a lively bar scene, and makes a reasonable base for visiting Zuma Rock — the giant granite outcrop 80 kilometres north on the road to Kaduna, which features on the Nigerian 100-naira note and is hard to miss if you're heading north.