The term “first female king in Nigeria” is complex, as it depends on whether you mean the earliest known female traditional ruler (pre-colonial era) or a female who officially held a male-gendered “King” title during the colonial or modern era.

Based on historical and contemporary accounts:

1. The Earliest Known Queen (Pre-Colonial Era)

If you are referring to the earliest historically recorded female ruler in what is now Nigeria, the most commonly cited figure is:

• Queen Yargoje of Zamfara (Hausa/Northern Nigeria).
  • She is reported in some traditions to have ruled the Zamfara Kingdom from 1310 to 1350 CE.
  • She is believed to have expanded the kingdom and was head of the pre-Islamic Bori cult.

While Queen Amina of Zazzau (Zaria) is more famous and ruled later (c. 1576–1610 CE), some historians regard her mother, Queen Bakwa Turunku (c. 1536–1566 CE), as the first female ruler of Zazzau.

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2. The “Female King” in the Colonial Era

If you are referring to the only woman known to have been formally installed with the male title of “King” (Eze) in colonial Nigeria, the answer is:

• King Ahebi Ugbabe (Igbo/Southeastern Nigeria).
  • She was the King (Eze) and Warrant Chief of Enugu-Ezike in Igboland, ruling from about 1918 until her death in 1948.
  • Her title was explicitly male, and she performed male-gendered traditional roles, even marrying wives, which was done as a means of political and economic empowerment, a practice common among male rulers. Her unique rise to power is well-documented in Nigerian historical studies.

Ahebi Ugbabe is often specifically referenced as “The Female King of Colonial Nigeria” because she was appointed to a position that was designed by the British colonial administration and traditionally reserved for men (the Warrant Chief system).