Ekiti () is a

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

in southwestern

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, bordered to the North by

Kwara State Kwara () is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger State, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the international border with Benin. Its ca ...

for 61 km, to the Northeast by

Kogi State Kogi State is a States of Nigeria, state in the North Central Nigeria, North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the west by the states of Ekiti State, Ekiti and Kwara State, Kwara, to the north by the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria, Fe ...

for 92 km, to the South and Southeast by

Ondo State Ondo () is a States of Nigeria, state in Points of the compass, southwestern Nigeria. It was created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State (Nigeria), Western State. Ondo borders Ekiti State to the north, Kogi State to the northeast fo ...

, and to the West by

Osun State Osun (; ), is a state in southwestern Nigeria; bounded to the east by Ekiti and Ondo states for 84 km and for 78 km respectively, to the north by Kwara State for 73 km, to the south by Ogun State for 84 km and to the wes ...

for 84 km. Named for the

Ekiti people The Ekiti State, Ekiti people are one of the largest historical subgroups of the larger Yoruba people of West Africa, located in Nigeria. They are classified as a Central Yoruba group, alongside the Ijesha, Igbomina, Yagba West, Yagba and Ifes. E ...

—the Yoruba subgroup that makes up the majority of the state's population—Ekiti State was carved out from a part of

in 1996 and has its capital as the city of

Ado-Ekiti Ado Ekiti is the capital city of Ekiti State, Nigeria. It is the Headquarters, headquarter of the Ekiti central senatorial district, Points of the compass, southwest, Nigeria. History Ado Ekiti is an ancient city, founded by Ewi Awamaro the ...

. One of the smallest and most educated states with the highest number of professors in Nigeria, Ekiti is the 31st largest in the area and 30th most populous with an

estimated Estimation (or estimating) is the process of finding an estimate or approximation, which is a value that is usable for some purpose even if input data may be incomplete, uncertain, or unstable. The value is nonetheless usable because it is de ...

population of nearly 3.5 million as of 2022. Geographically, the state is divided between the

Nigerian lowland forests The biogeographic regionalization of Earth's terrestrial biodiversity, known as Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World (TEOW), is made up of 867 ecoregions that are divided into 14 biomes. In addition to offering a comprehensive map of terrestrial b ...

in most of the state and the drier

Guinean forest–savanna mosaic The Guinean forest-savanna, also known as the Guinean forest-savanna transition, is a distinctive ecological region located in West Africa. It stretches across several countries including Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, B ...

in the north. Among the state's nature are false acraeas, mona monkey, forest buffalo, and grey parrot populations along with one of the last remaining

Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee The Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes ellioti'') is a subspecies of the common chimpanzee which inhabits the rainforest along the border of Nigeria and Cameroon. Male Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees can weigh up to 70 kilos with a body ...

populations with a troop of about 20 chimpanzees in the heavily threatened Ise Forest Reserve. In March 2022, Ekiti State became the first state in Nigeria to adopt a state tree as one of its official symbols. On World Forest Day 2022, Governor Kayode Fayemi announced that Obeche (

Triplochiton scleroxylon ''Triplochiton scleroxylon'' is a tree of the genus '' Triplochiton'' of the family ''Malvaceae''. The timber is known by the common names African whitewood, abachi, obeche (in Nigeria), wawa (in Ghana), ayous (in Cameroon) and sambawawa (in Ivor ...

) had been chosen as State Tree owing to its local prominence and environmental, economic and cultural significance. Modern-day Ekiti State has been primarily inhabited for centuries by the

, a Yoruba subgroup, with minorities of the Akoko Yoruba subgroup. Religiously, the majority of the state's population (~90%) are

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

with smaller

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and traditionalist minorities at about 5% and 5%, respectively. In the pre-colonial period, the area that is now Ekiti State was at various points ruled by the

Oyo Empire The Oyo Empire was a Yoruba people, Yoruba empire in West Africa. It was located in present-day western Nigeria (including the South West (Nigeria), South West zone, Benin Republic, and the western half of the North Central (Nigeria), North Cent ...

Benin Empire The Kingdom of Benin, also known as Great Benin, is a traditional kingdom in southern Nigeria. It has no historical relation to the modern republic of Benin, which was known as Dahomey from the 17th century until 1975. The Kingdom of Benin's c ...

, and finally, the Ekiti states which formed the Ekiti Confederacy in the latter half of the 1800s. From 1877 to 1893, the Confederacy fought the

Kiriji War The Kiriji War, also known as the Ekiti–Parapo War, was a 16-year-long civil war between the subethnic kingdoms of the Yoruba people, specifically divided between the Western Yoruba, which was mainly the Ibadan and Oyo-speaking Yorubas, and the ...

led by Fabunmi Okemesi alongside other Eastern Yoruba groups against the Ibadan Kingdom and other Western Yoruba groups; the war ended in a British-brokered stalemate before the area was colonized and incorporated into the British

Southern Nigeria Protectorate Southern Nigeria was a British protectorate in the coastal areas of modern-day Nigeria formed in 1900 from the union of the Niger Coast Protectorate with territories chartered by the Royal Niger Company below Lokoja on the Niger River. The L ...

which later merged into

British Nigeria Colonial Nigeria was ruled by the British Empire from the mid-nineteenth century until 1st of October 1960 when Nigeria achieved independence. Britain annexed Lagos in 1861 and established the Oil River Protectorate in 1884. British influen ...

in 1914. After independence in 1960, the area of now-Ekiti was a part of the post-independence Western Region until 1967 when the region was split and the area became part of the Western State. In 1976, the Western State was split and the state's east became

. Twenty years later, Ondo State's northwest (then termed the Ekiti Zone) was broken off to form Ekiti State. Economically, Ekiti State is partially based on agriculture, mainly of yams,

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

, cocoa, and

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...

crops. Key minor industries are

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, truckstourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

. Ekiti has the joint-thirteenth highest

Human Development Index The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistical composite index of life expectancy, Education Index, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income i ...

in the country and is considered the heart of the homeland of the

. Educationally, Ekiti State has the highest number of professors in Nigeria.

History

Ekiti was an independent state prior to the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

conquest. It was one of the many Yoruba states in what is today

. The

as a nation and districts of the Yoruba race trace some of her progeny to

Oduduwa Odùduwà (Ooduwa, Odudua or Oòdua) was a Yoruba divine king, a creator deity (orisha) in the Yoruba religion, and the legendary figure who ushered in the classical period that later led to the foundation of the Ife Empire. His earthly orig ...

, the father and progenitor of the Yoruba race even though good reason appears to establish the existence of aboriginal people in Ekiti region prior to the influx of royalty from present-day Ile Ife as that kingdom grew and abound. There are two major schools of thought regarding Ekiti's history. First was the story that tied the origin of Ekiti to Ife. The story goes that the Olofin, one of the sons of

had 16 children and in the means of searching for the new land to develop, they all journeyed out of Ile-Ife as they walked through the Iwo-Eleru (Cave of Ashes) at Ijare and had stopped over at a place called Igbo-Aka (forest of termites) closer to Ile-Oluji. The Olofin, the 16 children and some other beloved people continued with their journey, but when they got to a particular lovely and flat land, the Owa-Obokun (the Monarch of

Ijesha The Ijesha/Ilesha (written as Ìjẹ̀ṣà in Yoruba orthography) are one of the major sub-ethnicity of the Yorubas of West Africa. Ilesha is the largest town and historic cultural capital of the Ijesha people, and is home to a large kingdom o ...

land) and

Orangun {{Yoruba people Orangun or Ọ̀ràngún of Ìlá is the title of the paramount ruler of one of the ancient Igbomina kingdoms, a sub group of the Yoruba people with its seat and capital located in Ila Orangun, central Yorubaland, presently in southw ...

of Ila decided to stay in the present Ijesha and

Igbomina The Ìgbómìnà (also colloquially Igboona or Ogboona) are a subgroup of the Yoruba people, Yoruba ethnic group, which originates from the north central and southwest Nigeria. They speak a dialect called Yoruba language, Ìgbómìnà or Igbonna, ...

land in

Osun state Osun (; ), is a state in southwestern Nigeria; bounded to the east by Ekiti and Ondo states for 84 km and for 78 km respectively, to the north by Kwara State for 73 km, to the south by Ogun State for 84 km and to the wes ...

. While the remaining 14 children journeyed onwards and later settled in the present-day Ekiti land. They discovered that there were many hills in the place and they said in their mother's language that this is "Ile olokiti" the land of hills. Therefore, the Okiti was later blended to Ekiti. So Ekiti derived her name through hills. This history may describe the history of certain royalty in present-day Ekiti, but not all of Ekiti which is made up of 131 Principal towns, with their own royalty and many land-owning communities with no royalty at all. In fact, the invading royalties from the East went on to colonize and transform the aboriginals, distinguishing the Ekiti dialect upon mix-up with the Ife/ Oyo tongue of the Yorubas according to

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

, the renowned historian of the early Yoruba States and Affairs. The second school of thought on Ekiti's origin is more likely and grounded in actual history. It was said that

, the ancestor of the Yoruba traveled to Ife fe Ooyelagbowhere he met people who were already settled there. Among the elders he met in the town were Agbonniregun tetillu Obatala, Orelure, Obameri, Elesije, Obamirin, Obalejugbe just to mention a few. It is known that descendants of Agbonniregun aba Ifasettled in Ekiti, examples being the Alara and Ajero who are sons of Ifa. Orunmila gbonniregunhimself spent a greater part of his life at Ado. Because of this, we have the saying ‘Ado ni ile Ifa’ do is the home of Ifa The Ekiti have ever since settled in their present location. Nobody can give accurate dates to these events due to the lack of written sources, but people have lived in Ekiti for centuries. It is on record that Ekiti Obas had a prosperous reign in the 13th century. An example was the reign of Ewi Ata of

in the 1400s. About the Ekitis,

had this to say: "Historically, the Ekitis are among the aboriginal elements of Nigeria absorbed by the invaders from the East (Yoruba people from Ile Ife). "The term ''Ekiti'' denotes a "Mound", and is derived from the rugged mountainous feature of that part of the country. It is an extensive province and well-watered, including several tribes and families right onto the border of the Niger, eastward. They hold themselves quite distinct from the Ijesas, especially in political affairs." (Samuel Johnson, The History of the Yoruba, 1921). It is believed that the ancestors of the Ekiti people who came to combine with the aboriginal people on the land migrated from Ile Ife, the spiritual home of the Yoruba people. According to oral and contemporary written sources of Yoruba history,

, the ancestor of the Yoruba traveled to Ife fe Ooyelagbowhere he met people who were already settled there. Among the elders he met in the town were Agbonniregun tetillu Obatala, Orelure, Obameri, Elesije, Obamirin, Obalejugbe just to mention a few. It is known that descendants of Agbonniregun aba Ifasettled in Ekiti, examples being the Alara and Ajero who are sons of Ifa, Orunmila gbonniregunhimself spent a greater part of his life at Ado. Due to this, we have the saying ‘Ado ni ile Ifa’ do is the home of Ifa The Ekiti have ever since settled in their present location. The early Ekiti country is divided into 16 districts (and it has been maintained to this day), each with its own Owa or King (Owa being a generic term amongst them) of which four are supreme, viz. : — (1) The Owore of Otun, (2) The Ajero of Ijero, (3) The Ewi of Ado and (4) The Elekole of Ikole. The following are the minor Ekiti kings: — (5) Alara of Aramoko, (6) Alaye of Efon Alaye, (7) Ajanpanda of

Akure Akure is a city in south-western Nigeria. It is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Ondo State. The city had a population of 403,000 as of the 2006 population census. Its current population is estimated at 774,000.Ido Ido () is a constructed language derived from a reformed version of Esperanto, and designed similarly with the goal of being a universal second language for people of diverse languages. To function as an effective ''international auxiliary ...

, (10) Attah of Aiyede, (11) Oloja Oke of Igbo Odo, (12) Oloye of Oye, (13) Olomuwo of Omuwo, (14) Onire of Ire, (15) Arinjale of Ise and (16) Onitaji of Itaji. The Orangun of Ila is sometimes classed among them, but he is only Ekiti in sympathy, being of a different family." The modern Ekiti state was formed from part of Ondo in 1996. Prior to this, it was part of the Ondo Province in the Western Region of Nigeria. While the non-Ekiti part of the region largely dominated geographically, Akure which was then regarded as an Ekiti town was the headquarters of Ondo province.

Geography

The State is mainly an upland zone, rising over 250 meters above sea level. It lies on an area underlain by

metamorphic rock Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock ( protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, caus ...

. It is generally an undulating part of the country with a characteristic landscape that consists of old plains broken by step-sided out-crops that may occur singularly or in groups or ridges. Such rocks out-crops exist mainly at Aramoko, Efon-Alaiye, Ikere-Ekiti, Igbara-odo- ekiti and Okemesi-Ekiti. The State is dotted with rugged hills, notable ones being Ikere-Ekiti Hills in the south, Efon-Alaiye Hills on the western boundary and

Hills in the centre.

Climate and vegetation

The State enjoys a tropical climate with two distinct seasons. These are the

rainy season The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Rainy Season may also refer to: * ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King * "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni * '' ...

(April–October) and the

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The t ...

(November–March). Temperature ranges between 21° and 28 °C with high humidity. The southwesterly wind and the northeast trade winds blow in the rainy and dry (

Harmattan The Harmattan is a season in West Africa that occurs between the end of November and the middle of March. It is characterized by the dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind, of the same name, which blows from the Sahara over West Africa into th ...

) seasons respectively.

Tropical forest Tropical forests are forested ecoregions with tropical climates – that is, land areas approximately bounded by the Tropic of Cancer, tropics of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing ...

exists in the south, while

savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

occupies the northern peripheries.

Towns and administrative divisions

Local Government Areas

Ekiti State consists of sixteen

Local Government Areas A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory. The ph ...

. They are: *

* Ikere * Oye * Aiyekire (Gbonyin) *

Efon Efon is a Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Efon-Alaaye. This local government area was established primarily to bring the local population into the federal government's awareness and to open up o ...

Ekiti East Ekiti East is a Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Omuo Ekiti. Ekiti East Local Government Area falls within the Southern Senatorial zone of Ekiti State otherwise known as Ekiti South Senatorial Dis ...

* Ekiti South-West * Ekiti West * Emure * Ido-Osi * Ijero * Ikole * Ilejemeje * Irepodun/Ifelodun * Ise/Orun *

Moba Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of players compete on a structured battlefield, each controlling a single character with distinctive abilities that grow stronger as the match progr ...

Current list of Local Government Area Chairmen.

1 Ise/Orun: Hon. Olumide Falade 2 Gbonyin: Hon. Sade Akinrinmola 3 Emure: Hon. Oludare Paul Awopetu 4 Ido-Osi: Hon. Chief Ayodeji Arogbodo 5 Oye: Hon. Tayo Ogundare 6 Irepodun/Ifelodun: Hon. Dapo Olagunju 7 Ado-Ekiti: Hon. Deji Ogunsakin 8 Ikere: Hon. Bola Alonge 9 Ekiti South West: Hon. Lanrewaju Omolase 10 Efon: Hon. Bolaji Jeje 11 Ilejemeje: Hon. Ganiyu Bakare 12 Ijero: Hon. Abiodun Dada 13 Ekiti East: Hon. Samuel Adeniyi 14 Ekiti West: Hon. Kolawole Omotunde 15 Moba: Hon. Adeniyi Adebayo 16 Ikole: Hon. Adesola Adeyanju

Proposed 18 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in Ekiti State

The Ekiti State Government in 2014, prior to the exit of the immediate past Governor Fayemi, was to create an additional 18 LCDAs based on the recommendations of the White Paper Committee set up by the government. This has, however, been cancelled by Governor Ayo Fayose.

Demographics

Ekitis are culturally homogeneous and they speak a dialect of Yoruba language known as ''Ekiti''. The homogeneous nature of Ekiti confers on the state some uniqueness among the states of the federation. Slight differences are noticeable in the Ekiti dialects of the

Yoruba language Yoruba (, ; Yor. ) is a Niger–Congo languages, Niger-Congo language that is spoken in West Africa, primarily in South West (Nigeria), Southwestern and Middle Belt, Central Nigeria, Benin, and parts of Togo. It is spoken by the Yoruba people. ...

spoken by the border communities to other states. For example, the people of Ado local government area do not speak exactly the same dialect as the people of Ijero Local government area, while the people of Ikole area speak something different from the people of Ikere area. The communities influenced by their locations include Otun (Moba land) which speaks a dialect close to the one spoken by the Igbominas in

. The people of Oke-Ako, Irele, Omuo speak a similar

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

to that of Ijesas of

Religion

About 85% Christian, with about 10% Muslim and 5% traditional Yoruba Animist. The

Anglican Province of Ondo The Anglican Province of Ondo is one of the 14 ecclesiastical provinces of the Church of Nigeria. It comprises 12 dioceses. In 2021 the 12 dioceses and corresponding bishops were: *Anglican Province of Ondo; Archbishop: Simeon Borokini #Anglican ...

within the

Church of Nigeria The Church of Nigeria is the Anglicanism, Anglican Church body, church in Nigeria. It is the second-largest Province (Anglican), province in the Anglican Communion, as measured by baptised membership (not by attendance), after the Church of Englan ...

includes the three Dioceses of Ekiti Oke (2004) led by Bishop Isaac Olatunde Olubowale (2004), Ekiti West (2005) led by Bishop Rufus Victor Ajileye Adepoju (2017), and Ekiti (1996) led by Bishop Andrew Olushola Ajayi (2022). 446,475 Catholics (2021) in the Diocese of Ekiti (1972 as Ado-Ekiti), a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Ibadan, with 63 parishes under Bishop Felix Femi Ajakaye (2010).

Languages

Languages of Ekiti State listed by LGA:

Education

Ekiti State operates the 6-3-3-4 system of education in use in Nigeria. The primary education is under the supervision of Ekiti State Universal Basic Education Board which usually partner with UBEC to ensure the development of human capacity and infrastructure as captured in the Universal Basic Education Policy. The State Ministry of Education coordinates the registration and maintenance in both private and public schools from basic to the secondary level as it is applicable all over

. Emmanuel School (now Emmanuel Nursery and Primary School) established in 1896 was the first and now the oldest formal school in Ekiti State. Saint Joseph Nursery and Primary School, Ado-Ekiti, St. Louis Primary School, Ikere-Ekiti, Catford Nursery and Primary School, Ado-Ekiti, and EKSU Staff School are among the most popular primary schools in Ekiti State. Notable secondary schools in Ekiti State include but are not limited to Christ’s School, Ado Ekiti, Petoa City College, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti Anglican Diocesan High School, Ado-Ekiti, New creation college, Ado Ekiti and Notre Dame College, Usi-Ekiti. There are only five universities in Ekiti State which are namely]: The

Afe Babalola University Afe Babalola University (ABUAD) is a private research university located in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. It was founded by a lawyer and philanthropist, Afe Babalola, in 2009. Afe Babalola University offers Academic programs in six Colleges ...

, Ado-Ekiti that was established in 2009 which has its main campus in the capital city of Ekiti State, is one of the leading private universities in Nigeria. Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Federal University Oye-Ekiti, and Venite University Iloro Ekiti and the newly established Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology Ikere-Ekiti are the public universities in Ekiti State. Other tertiary institutions in Ekiti State are the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, Crown Polytechnic Ado-Ekiti, College of Health Technology, Ijero-Ekiti. The Ekiti has an unquestionable and unassailable record of having the largest industry in education with 11 professors in a family of 13. This is a point of unique reference in the world. “Studies have shown that Ekiti has the largest number of educated people per square kilometre in the black world”. Unarguably, Ekiti, as an ethnic group, has the highest number of professors in Nigeria. “Ekiti Land has been a “beacon and source of living academic water to the black race...History had it that Ekiti produced six medical doctors who operated in ships between 1500 and 1830... before the first school was established in Nigeria (Ilesanmi, Dele Alaba, 2023). ----

Transport

Major Roads include: * Ado Ekiti-Igede-Aramoko Rd west from

as Erimo-Effon Alaiye Rd, * Ikokum-Ijero Ekiti Rd west from Ijero via Igbeja to Osun State, * The Otun Rd north from Ido Ekiti to

, * Omuo Ekiti-Ekinrin Rd east to

, * Omuo Ekiti-Igbe Rd south to

, * Ado Ekiti-Ikare Rd east to Ondo State, * Owo-Emure Ile Rd south to Ondo State, * Ado Ekiti-Ogbolu Rd south to Ondo State, * southwest from Ikere to Ondo State, * Igede Ekiti Oke Rd south to Ondo State at Ibuji. * Ogotun Ekiti-Igbara Odo Rd to Osun State at Ipetu-Ijesha via Ikeji-Ile

Politics

The State government is led by a democratically elected governor who works closely with members of the state's House of Assembly. The Capital of the State is Ado-Ekiti.

Electoral system

The electoral system of each state is selected using a modified two-round system. To be elected in the first round, a candidate must receive the plurality of the vote and over 25% of the vote in at least two-thirds of the state local government areas. If no candidate passes the threshold, a second round will be held between the top candidate and the next candidate to have received a plurality of votes in the highest number of local government Areas.

Natural resources

Ekiti land is naturally endowed with numerous natural resources. The state is potentially rich in mineral deposits. These include

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

kaolinite Kaolinite ( ; also called kaolin) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral sheet of alumina () ...

columbite Columbite, also called niobite, niobite-tantalite and columbate, with a general chemical formula of , is a black mineral group that is an ore of niobium. It has a submetallic luster, a high density, and is a niobate of iron and manganese. Niobite ...

, charnockite,

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

baryte Baryte, barite or barytes ( or ) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate (Ba S O4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The ''baryte group'' consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), ...

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, aquamarine,

gemstone A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewellery, jewelry or other adornments. Certain Rock (geology), rocks (such ...

phosphate Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus. In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthop ...

tourmaline Tourmaline ( ) is a crystalline silicate mineral, silicate mineral group in which boron is chemical compound, compounded with chemical element, elements such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium. This gemstone comes in a ...

, gold coal in limited quantity among others. They are largely deposited in different towns and villages of Ijero, Ekiti West, Ado-Ekiti, Ikole, Ikere, Ise-Ekiti and other local government areas. The Land is also blessed with water resources, some of its major rivers are Ero,

Osun Osun (; ), is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria; bounded to the east by Ekiti State, Ekiti and Ondo State, Ondo states for 84 km and for 78 km respectively, to the north by Kwara State for 73&nb ...

, Ose, and Ogbese. The state of hills is also blessed with a variety of tourist attractions abound in the state namely, Ikogosi Warm Springs; Arinta Water Falls; Olosunta and Orole hills of Ikere; Erin-ayonugba River at Erijiyan Ekiti; Fajuyi Memorial Park of Ado - Ekiti and so on. The Ikogosi tourist centre is the most popular and the most developed. The warm spring is a unique natural feature, and supporting facilities are developed in the centre. The spring is at present, being processed and packaged into bottled water for commercial purposes by a private company - UAC Nigeria. Moreover, the land is buoyant in agricultural resources with cocoa as its leading

cash crop A cash crop, also called profit crop, is an Agriculture, agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate a marketed crop from a staple crop ("subsi ...

. It was largely known that Ekiti land constituted well over 40% of the cocoa products of the famous old Western Region. The land is also known for its forest resources, notably

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

, and in March 2022, Obeche (

) was adopted as a State Tree due to its prominence and economic significance. Because of the favourable climatic conditions, the land enjoys luxuriant vegetation, thus, it has abundant resources of different species of timber. Food crops such as yam,

, and also

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

s like

and

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

are grown in large quantities. Other notable crops such as

kola nut The kola nut ( Yoruba: ''obi'', Dagbani: ''guli'', Hausa: goro, Igbo: ''ọjị'', Sängö: ''gôro,'' Swahili: ''mukezu'') is the seed of certain species of plant of the genus ''Cola'', placed formerly in the cocoa family Sterculiaceae and ...

and varieties of fruits are also cultivated in commercial quantities.

Gallery

File:The Iworoko mountain 05.jpg, The Iworoko mountain File:Wooden Walkway of Ikogosi Cold and Warm Spring.jpg, Wooden Walkway of Ikogosi Cold and Warm Spring File:Mountain view Ilawe Ekiti, Ekiti State.jpg, Mountain view Ilawe Ekiti, Ekiti State Aramoko-Ekiti Roundabout, Aramoko-Ekiti, Ekiti state.jpg, Aramoko-Ekiti Roundabout, Aramoko-Ekiti Araromi Baptist Church, Igede-Ekiti, Ekiti (cropped).jpg, Araromi Baptist Church, Igede-Ekiti Arinta Water Fall, Ipole Iloro.jpg, Gate into Arinta Water Fall, Ipole Iloro Arinta water fall.3.jpg, Arinta water fall Arinta Waterfall, Ipole Iloro3.jpg, Arinta Waterfall Edu High School Avenue Sign Post, Erio-Ekiti, Ekiti State.jpg, Edu High School Avenue Sign Post, Erio-Ekiti Ekiti Baptist High School, Igede Ekiti, Ekiti State (cropped).jpg, Ekiti Baptist High School, Igede Ekiti Ekiti state internal revenue house, Ado-ekiti2.jpg, Ekiti state internal revenue house, Ado-ekiti Ekiti state local government service commission.2.jpg, Ekiti state local government service commission Ekiti state University Teaching Hospital, Ado-ekiti2.jpg, Ekiti state University Teaching Hospital, Ado-ekiti2.jpg Ekiti state University Teaching Hospital, Ado-ekiti3.jpg, Ekiti state University Teaching Hospital, Ado-ekiti Erelu Adebayo children home, Igede-Ekiti, Ekiti.jpg, Erelu Adebayo children home, Igede-Ekiti ERI AYONUGBA RIVER, ERIJIYAN-EKITI, EKITI STATE 2.jpg, Eri Ayonigba River, Erijiyan-Ekiti ERI AYONUGBA RIVER, ERIJIYAN-EKITI, EKITI STATE55.jpg, Eri Ayonigba River, Erijiyan-Ekiti Erin-Ayonugba High School, Erijiyan Ekiti 3.jpg, Erin-Ayonugba High School, Erijiyan Ekiti Erio-Ekiti Signpost, Ekiti state.jpg, Erio-Ekiti Signpost, Ekiti state Welcome to Ikogosi ekiti.jpg, Welcome to Ikogosi signpost Welcome to Igede-Ekiti signboard, Ekiti state.jpg, Welcome to Igede-Ekiti sign board Welcome to Efon-Alaye signboard, Ekiti state.jpg, Welcome to Efon-Alaye sign board St. Paul Anglican church. Erijiyan ekiti.jpg, St. Paul Anglican church, Erijiyan St. Paul Anglican church odo ado ekiti 2.jpg, St. Paul Anglican church odo ado

Notable people

Niyi Adebayo Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo (born 4 February 1958) is a Nigerian lawyer and politician who served as the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment of Nigeria from August 2019 to May 2023. He previously served as the first democratically elected g ...

: former governor, first executive governor of Ekiti State, (the son of Robert Adeyinka Adebayo). * Robert Adeyinka Adebayo: Ex Governor, Western Region and Western State of Nigeria, (the father of

). *

Odunlade Adekola Odunlade Jonathan Adekola (; born 31 December 1976) is a Nigerian actor, film-maker, film producer and film director. He gained popularity and was widely known for his lead role in Ishola Durojaye's 2003 movie, ''Asiri Gomina Wa'', and has act ...

: actor * Alhaji Abdul Azeez Kolawole Adeyemo: prominent politician *

Sade Adu Helen Folasade Adu ( ; born 16 January 1959), known professionally as Sade Adu or simply Sade ( or ), is a British-Nigerian singer and songwriter who is the lead vocalist of her band Sade. One of the most successful British female artists in ...

: musician * S. Banji Akintoye: history professor and writer. * Bolaji Aluko: professor * Gbenga Aluko: senator * Sam Aluko: economist and father to Bolaji Aluko and Gbenga Aluko * Niniola Apata, musician and elder sister to Teniola Apata * Teniola Apata, musician and younger sister to Niniola Apata * Yinka Ayefele: musician * Afe Babalola: senior advocate of Nigeria, philanthropist * Rasak Ojo Bakare: professor * Richard Bamisile: Nigerian politician and member of the Federal House of Representatives. * Babalola Borishade: 4-time Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, CFR * Adekunle Fajuyi: First Military Governor, Western Region of Nigeria - The Region is now divided to 6 States. * Femi Falana: senior advocate of Nigeria, activist, (the father of

Falz Folarin Falana (born 27 October 1990), better known by his stage name Falz, is a Nigerian rapper, songwriter, and actor. He began his career in secondary school after forming a group called The School Boys with a friend, before launching his p ...

). *

: musician, (the son of Femi Falana) *

Olusoji Fasuba Olusoji Adetokunbo Fasuba (born 9 July 1984) is a Nigerian sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres. He was the African record holder in the event with 9.85 seconds until Akani Simbine broke it in July 2021 with 9.84 seconds. He ...

: sprinter and sports * Kayode Fayemi: former governor Ekiti State * Ayo Fayose: former governor of Ekiti State * Zlatan Ibile: artist, dancer * Oluyemi Kayode: sprinter * Babafemi Ojudu: senator, current special adviser to president * Senator Abiodun Olujimi: a senator of the Federal Republic Nigeria representing Ekiti South constituency and deputy minority whip * Bamidele Olumilua: former governor, Old Ondo State * Segun Oni: politician and former governor, Ekiti State *

Niyi Osundare Niyi Osundare is a Nigerian poet, dramatist, linguist, and literary critic. Born on 12 March 1947, in Ikere-Ekiti, Nigeria, his poetry is influenced by the oral tradition of his Yoruba culture, which he hybridizes with other poetic traditions o ...

: poet, professor *

Sola Sobowale Sola Sobowale (born 26 December 1965) is a Nigerian film actress, screenwriter, film director and film producer. Sola Sobowale had her big break in 2001, in the premiere of Nigeria's popular television drama series Super Story: ''Oh Father, O ...

: actress *

Tope Tedela Temitope Christopher Tedela (born 5 June 1990) is a Nigerian actor and producer. He has received several awards for his work including Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Award, Nigeria Entertainment Award, Best of Nollywood Award and Nollywood M ...

: actor * Puffy Tee: record producer

References

Sources

* Adesina Adetola. ''Ekiti Kete: The Value, The Virtue and The Vision''. 2008. * Samuel Johnson. The History of the Yoruba, 1921 * Ilesanmi, Dele A. ''Revisiting the Ekiti Parapo Liberation War After 137 Years, 2023''. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/374157888 ccessed May 31 2024

External links

Ekiti247.com

Ekiti.com

Ekitinigeria.net

saharareporters.com

ekitistate.gov.ng
{{Portal bar, Nigeria States of Nigeria States in Yorubaland States and territories established in 1996 1996 establishments in Nigeria