The Slogan

Land of Honour and Integrity

Date Of Creation

1 October 1996

See Also: About The 36 States Of Nigeria

About Enugu State, Nigeria

About Gombe State, Nigeria

Geography

The State is mainly an upland zone, rising over 250 meters above sea level. It lies on an area underlain by metamorphic rock. 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 Ado-Ekiti Hills in the centre. it is bordered to the north by Kwara State, to the northeast by Kogi State, to the south and southeast by Ondo State, and to the west by Osun State.

Brief History

Ekiti was an independent state prior to the British conquest. It was one of the many Yoruba states in what is today Nigeria. The Ekiti people as a nation and districts of Yoruba race trace some of her progeny to Oduduwa, the father and progenitor of Yoruba race even though good reason appear to establish the existence of aboriginal people in Ekiti region prior to influx of royalty from present day Ile Ife as that kingdom grew and abound.

There are two major schools of thought regarding Ekiti history. First was the story that tied the origin of Ekiti to Ife. The story goes that the Olofin, one of the sons of Oduduwa 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 Isarun and had stop 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 land) and Orangun of Ila decided to stay in the present Ijesha and Igbomina land in Osun state. 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 later blended to Ekiti. So Ekiti derived her name through hills.

It must however be noted, that 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, the renowned historian of early Yoruba States and Affairs

The Local Government area

Ekiti State consists of sixteen Local Government Areas. They are:

Ado-Ekiti
Ikere
Oye
Aiyekire (Gbonyin)
Efon
Ekiti East
Ekiti South-West
Ekiti West
Emure
Ido-Osi
Ijero
Ikole
Ilejemeje
Irepodun/Ifelodun
Ise/Orun
Moba

The Governor

Kayode Fayemi (APC)

The Deputy governor

Bisi Egbeyemi (APC)

The Senators

C: Michael Opeyemi Bamidele (APC)
N: Olubunmi Ayodeji Adetunmbi (APC)
S: Abiodun Olujimi (PDP)

Representatives

Representative	Party	Constituency
Olanrewaju Ibrahim Kunle	APC	Ido/Osi, Moba/Ilejeme
Olufemi Richard Bamisile	APC	Emure/Gbonyin/Ekiti East
Kehinde Agboola	APC	Ikole/Oye
Ogunlola Omowumi Olubunmi	APC	Ijero/Ekiti West/Efon
Abdulraheem Olatunji Olawuyi	APC	Ado Ekiti/Irepodun-Ifelodun
Adaramodu Adeyemi Raphael	APC	Ekiti south west/Ikere/Ise/Orun

The Website

www.ekitistate.gov.ng/

Major Cities

Ado-Ekiti

Prominent Places

The Iworoko mountain
Ikogosi Warm Springs
Arinta Water Falls
Olosunta and Orole hills of Ikere

Mineral Resources

These include granite, kaolinite, columbite, charnockite, iron ore, baryte, aquamarine, gemstone, phosphate, limestone, tourmaline, gold among others

The population

Population (2006 Census)
• Total 2,210,957

Postal Code

362001

Culture and tourism

The Land is also blessed with water resources, some of its major rivers are Ero, Osun, Ose, and Ogbese. More so, 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 purpose by a private company – UAC Nigeria.

Notable People

Niyi Adebayo: 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 Niyi Adebayo).
Odunlade Adekola: actor
Alhaji Abdul Azeez Kolawole Adeyemo: prominent politician
Sade Adu: musician
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).
Falz: musician, (the son of Femi Falana)

Languages

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 spoken by the border communities to other states. For example, the people of Ado local government area do not speak exactly the same dialect with the people of Ijero Local government area, while the people of Ikole area speak something different from the people of Ikere area.

Institutions

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 Nigeria.

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 not limited to Christ’s School, Ado Ekiti, Petoa City College, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti Anglican Diocesan High School, Ado-Ekiti and Notre Dame College, Usi-Ekiti.

The Afe Babalola University, 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 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.