Okene is a town in the Nigerian state of

Kogi Kogi State is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the west by the states of Ekiti and Kwara, to the north by the Federal Capital Territory, to the northeast by Nasarawa State, to the northwest by Niger State, to th ...

. The town is based in a Local Government Area of the same name. Okene runs along the A2 highway. It had an area of 328 km² and a population of 320,260 at the 2006 census. The predominant people are the

Ebira The Ebira also known as Egbira people are an ethno-linguistic group of central Nigeria. Most Ebira people are from Kogi State, Nasarawa State. Until the separation of Kogi State from Kwara State, Okene was seen as the administrative centre of the ...

of central Nigeria; the local languages is Ebira. The

postal code A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal a ...

of the area is 264.

People

Okene is the birthplace of

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

player and

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

prospect

Akim Aliu Akim Aliu (born April 24, 1989) is a Nigeria-born Canadian- Ukrainian former professional ice hockey player. He last played for HC Litvínov in the Czech Extraliga (ELH). Aliu was a second round selection of the Chicago Blackhawks, 56th overall, ...

. Another prominent Nigerian that hails from Okene is Engineer

Joseph Makoju Joseph Oyeyani Makoju (13 July 1948 – 11 April 2022) served as Special Adviser (Electric Power) to the President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria under two separate administrations. He was Honorary Adviser on Electric Power to the President/Comm ...

, the former managing director of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria and currently the Honorary Adviser to Mr President on Electric Power and the Honorary Adviser to the President/CEO Dangote Group on Strategies. Okene is also the birthplace of Governor

Yahaya Bello Yahaya Adoza Bello (born 18 June 1975) is a Nigerian businessman and politician who has served as the Governor of Kogi State since 2016. A member of the All Progressives Congress, Bello has been the youngest governor in Nigeria throughout his te ...

Education

The Federal College of Education is situated in Okene along Okene-Lokoja road. There is also a satellite campus of the Kogi State Polythecnic. There are also different schools in Okene including high schools like Abdulaziz Atta Memorial College Okene (AAMCO), Local Government Secondary School Ohiana (LGSS), College of Arabic and Islamic Studies Okene (CAISO), Solardad Group of Schools located close G.R.A Okene, Samaritan Nursery And Primary School located at Ozuwaya beside Kekere Guest Palace Okene and many other notable schools.Jn

History

Okene Local Government Area was created in 1976 from the then Ebira Division by the Administration of General

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, , ( ; yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its pres ...

, following the 1976 Local Government Reform. Ajaokuta and Ogori-Magongo LGAs were created from the old Okene LGA in 1991 and 1996 respectively. The people of Okene Local Government Area are a part of Ebira Tao people of the Central Senatorial District of Kogi State. They are believed to have migrated from Jukun in the present day Taraba State and had a brief stopover in Idah before moving to its present location. The present Okene LGA is composed of Okene and Okengwe districts. There are 11 wards in the Local Government which are Bariki, Otutu, Orietesu, Lafia/Obessa, Okene-Eba, Idoji, Onyukoko, Obehira-Eba, Obehira-Uvete, Abuga/Ozuja and Upogoro/Odenku wards. The people are predominantly Muslims with a large size of Christian population too. To a great extent, there is a fusion of tradition and religions with only a negligible few still practicing exclusively traditional religion. Okene is one of the most beautiful places in the whole of West Africa with the most beautiful palace known as Azad's palace it belongs to the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland (King of Ebiraland), Dr. Ado Ibrahim Atta.

climate

References

{{Coord, 7, 33, N, 6, 14, E, region:NG_type:city, display=title Local Government Areas in Kogi Statebr>Okene Page on Ebira Online Media
Cities in Yorubaland Cities in Nigeria Hotel.ng/places