Ijero Ekiti is a town in
Ekiti State of
Nigeria in
West Africa. Ijero Ekiti is situated in the northwest part of Ekiti State. Ijero Ekiti is the Local Government Headcount. The main language spoken by the indigenes of Ijero Ekiti is Ekiti dialect and the
Yoruba language
Yoruba (, ; Yor. '; Ajami script, Ajami: ) is a language spoken in West Africa, primarily in South West (Nigeria), Southwestern Middle Belt, and Central Nigeria. It is spoken by the Ethnic group, ethnic Yoruba people. The number of Yoruba speake ...
.
Ijero Ekiti
is about Six (6) hours drive to
Abuja
Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...
, The Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, also about five (5) hours drive to
Lagos City Metropoly and about one hour (1) hour drive to
Ado Ekiti, the Capital of Ekiti State.
Population and economy
With a population of 5,230 people as it was shown with the 2007 population census. The Ijero people are
agrarian society producing food crops such as
yam
Yam or YAM may refer to:
Plants and foods
*Yam (vegetable), common name for members of ''Dioscorea''
* Taro, known in Malaysia and Singapore as yam
* Sweet potato, specifically its orange-fleshed cultivars, often referred to as yams in North Amer ...
,
cocoyam,
cassava,
pepper
Pepper or peppers may refer to:
Food and spice
* Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant
** Black pepper
* ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae
** Bell pepper
** Chili ...
,
tomatoes, and
banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...
. and all crops mentioned above are produced with good qualities.
Ijero Ekiti has the presence of both federal and state in the town such as
schools (primary and secondary),
Federal Road Safety Corps
Federal Road Safety Corps is the Government Agency with statutory responsibilities for road safety administration in Nigeria. Founded in 1988, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) operates in all Nigerian states as well as the Federal Capital ...
and
Primary Health Care, etc.
Cultural attire
Ijero Ekiti is the home of culture and tradition of which our dressing has traditional value. Male dress in Buba and Sokoto with fitted cap while the female dress in Iro and Buba with Gele (head tie), the chief dresses in traditional attire and put on beads on their neck and wrist both male and female chief. chief Eyegun of Ijero Ekiti is the head of female in the kingdom.
The king always dress in big attire called
Agbada
The boubou or grand boubou is a flowing wide-sleeved robe worn across West Africa, and to a lesser extent in North Africa, related to the dashiki suit.
The garments and its variations are known by various names in different ethnic groups and l ...
with crown and beads on his neck and on his wrists. The queens (
Olori) always dress decently with
beads on their wrists and neck. They do not wear headgear instead beads are used to design headgear and this is what they wear on their head.
Religion
Before the introduction of foreign religion,
Ifa,
Osun, Imole,
Orisa nla and
Ogun are the gods which our fore fathers worships in those days. Chief Esinkin and others are the custodian of cultural heritage in Ijero Ekiti. The chief mentioned are directly involved in the cultural festival activities which normally takes place in the Kingdom.
Ijero contains several churches including Seventh-Day Adventist Church, a Catholic church, Christ Church Cathedral, Christ Apostolic Church, Redeemed Christian Church of God and Winner's Chapel.
Further reading
*''Ijero Kingdom in Yoruba History'' by J. Wellington Alufa
*''Tell Ijeroism'' by Femi Alufa (2003)
*''Ajero Oyiyosoye and the Ekitiparapo War'' by Leke Oyebade
References
{{LGAs and communities of Ekiti State
Towns in Yorubaland
Local Government Areas in Ekiti State