This paper examines some indicators of status in 4 distinctive regions of Nigeria with the aim of explaining differences in the relationship between women's status and fertility in terms of variations in the underlying intervening mechanisms. The analysis is based on data collected by the Nigeria Fertility Survey, part of the World Fertility Survey, in 1981. For the country as a whole as well as the 4 regions, the intervening variables most strongly related to fertility are open and closed birth interval variables, proportion of children dead among children ever born, and knowledge and use of contraception. In the North East, age at 1st marriage is an important determinant. In the North West, proportion dead of children ever born is important. In the South East, age at 1st marriage and knowledge and use of contraceptive methods are important determinants. In the South West, age at 1st marriage is an additional important determinant of fertility. The pattern of relationships varies between female status indicators and intervening variables on 1 hand, and between intervening variables and fertility among the regions on the other. The findings, however, support other findings that among the female status indicators, education (women's education and husbands' education) shows a consistent inverse relationship with fertility while acting through some intervening variables. The most powerful intervening variable was found to be the birth interval.