The proposal to form a District Grand Lodge was originated by Calabar Lodge No. 3434 at its Regular Meeting held on 14th Septem­ber 1912. At that date, and in order of seniority, there were six Lodges of the English Constitution in existence in Nigeria. They were;

Lagos Lodge No. 1171 – Warranted 25th May, 1867

St, John’s Lodge No. 2668 – Warranted 23rd July, 1897

St. George’s Lodge No. 3065 – Warranted 25th July, 1904

Northern Nigeria Lodge No. 3325 – Warranted 20th July, 1908

Calabar Lodge No. 3434 – Warranted 1st Febuary, 1910

Zungeru Lodge No. 3506 – Warranted 15th Febuary, 1911

It is worthy of note, therefore, that the prime movers to form a District Grand Lodge were the members of the Calabar Lodge which was then the second youngest Lodge in the Country. Following a decision taken at the Regular Meeting of Calabar Lodge held on 14th September 1912, a letter was addressed to each of the other five Lodges in the country regarding the necessity for the formation of a District Grand Lodge and seeking their views on the proposal to petition the Most Worshipful Grand Master to approve the formation of such a District Grand Lodge. 

With the exception of Northern Nigeria Lodge No. 3325 some of the members of which apparently, considered the proposal to be somewhat premature, the reactions from the other four Lodges appear to have been favourable and the nomination of Justice Willoughby Osborne as the first District Grand Master was generally agreed. Willoughby Osborne was at that time the Chief Justice of Southern Nigeria.

The Petition to form a District Grand Lodge of Northern and Southern Nigeria was approved by the Most Worshipful Grand Master in the following year and the Patent was issued in London on 15th July 1913. The opening Meeting of the District Grand Lodge was held at St. George’s Hall, Lagos on Thursday 20th November, 1913.

At the Annual Communication, held on 25th November, 1916, it is recorded in the Minutes that it “was agreed to change the title of the District Grand Lodge of Northern and Southern Nigeria to the District Grand Lodge of Nigeria.” Although there is no reference in Grand Lodge records to the change in title of the District Grand Lodge. The Librarian and Curator of Grand Lodge A. R. Hewitt commented that:

“The matter would not necessarily come before the Grand Lodge as the Grand Master must have sanctioned the change. One would have thought, however, that the approval would have been communicated by letter but I can find none in the correspondence. Correspondence on other matters from the Grand Lodge in October 1916 is addressed “District Grand Lodge of Nigeria.”

Warrants issued by the United Grand Lodge of England for the formation of three additional private Lodges under the jurisdiction of the District Grand Lodge of Northern and Southern Nigeria were as follows:

Travellers’ Lodge No. 3726;

Nigeria Lodge No. 3773 and

St. John’s Lodge (Onitsha) No. 3780