Ekiti State
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| Ekiti State State nickname: Fountain of Knowledge |
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| Location | ||
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| Statistics | ||
| Governor (List) |
General Tunji Olurin (appointed administrator) | |
| Date Created | 1 October 1996 | |
| Capital | Ado Ekiti | |
| Area | 6,353 km² Ranked 31st |
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| Population 1991 Census 2005 estimate |
Ranked 29th N/A 2,737,186 |
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| ISO 3166-2 | NG-EK | |
Contents |
[edit] History
Ekiti State of Nigeria was created on 1st October, 1996 along side other five by the late Head of state and Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, General Sani Abacha, GCON in a nation-wide broadcast to mark the 36th Independence anniversary of Nigeria. The State, carved out of Ondo State, cover the former twelve local government areas that made up the Ekiti Zone of old Ondo State. However, Ekiti State, on creation took off with sixteen (16) local government areas, having had additional four carved out of the old ones. Ekiti State is one of the Thirty-six states (including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja) that constitute the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
There was a lot of political turbulence in the state starting in 2003 when Nigeria's president's ruling party (PDP) took over in the state. After a particularly chaotic period, against all principles of democracy, the president of Nigeria, General Olusegun Obasanjo imposed a military administrator (another general Tunji Olurin) on Ekiti State in October, 2006.
[edit] Topography
The State is mainly an upland zone, rising above 250 meters above the sea level. It lies within the area underlain by metamorphic rock of the basement complex. It has a generally undulating land surface with a characteristic landscape that consists of old plains broken by step-sided out-crops dome rocks that may occur singularly or in groups or ridges. Such rocks out-crops exist mainly at Efon-Alaaye, Ikere-Ekiti and Okemesi-Ekiti. The State is dotted with rugged hills. The notable ones among them are Ikere-Ekiti Hills in the southern part, Efon-Alaaye Hills in the western boundary and Ado-Ekiti Hills in the central part.
[edit] Climate and Vegetation
The State enjoys tropical climate with two distinct seasons. These are the rainy season (April-October) and the dry season (November-March). Temperature ranges between 21° and 28°C with high humidity. The South-Westerly wind and the North East Trade winds blow in the rainy and dry (Harmattan) seasons respectively. Tropical forest exists in the south, while Guinea Savannah occupies the northern peripheries.
[edit] Major Towns and Administrative Divisions
The people of Ekiti State live mainly in towns, like most Yoruba. The large centres are compact settlements. The towns include Ado, Efon-Alaaye, Aramoko, Ikole, Ikere, Ijero, Ipoti, Igogo, Ise, Itapa, Otun,usi, Ido, Emure, Iyin, Igede, Ilawe, Ode, Oye, Omuo, Ilupeju, Ikoro, Ikun, Iye, Ijesa-Isu, Ayedun, Aisegba, Okemesi, Igbara-Odo.
There are also 16 LGA's in Ekiti:
- Ado-Ekiti
- Efon
- Ekiti-East
- Ekiti-South-West
- Ekiti-West
- Emure
- Gbonyin
- Ido-Osi
- Ijero
- Ikere
- Ikole
- Ilejemeje
- Irepodun/Ifelodun
- Ise/Orun
- Moba
- Oye
[edit] The People
The Ekiti, whose ancestors migrated from Ile-Ife as a people, from one of the largest ethnic groups in Yorubaland. 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. The communities influenced by their locations include Otun (Moba land) that speaks a dialect close to the one spoken by the Igbominas in Kwara State. The people of Oke-Ako, Irele, Omuo-Oke speak a similar dialect to that of Ijesas of Osun State. However, part of the uniqueness of the Ekitis is that where ever is your own part of the state, you will understand well, when the other Ekiti man/woman speaks, in spite of the dialectal variations. In addition, all towns in Ekiti State take a common suffix, “Ekiti,” after their names. The main staple food of the people of Ekiti is pounded yam with vegetable soup. Ekitis as a people settled in nucleus urban patterns, well linked with network of roads. The State can boast of more than 127 large and small, ancient and modern towns, located on hills and valleys that characterise the state from which the confinement takes its name, Ekiti, that is, “Okiti” meaning hill. Ekiti State, apart from the fact that it is the only state with a warm spring in Nigeria, is the watered and source of some prominent rivers such as Ero, Ose, Ogbese, Osun,ogudu and others. The people of Ekiti are hard-working, upright, studious and very articulate. Ekiti men are predominantly farmers but women engage in trading.
[edit] Sources
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| Abia | Abuja Federal Capital Territory | Adamawa | Akwa Ibom | Anambra | Bauchi | Bayelsa | Benue | Borno | Cross River | Delta | Ebonyi | Edo | Ekiti | Enugu | Gombe | Imo | Jigawa | Kaduna | Kano | Katsina | Kebbi | Kogi | Kwara | Lagos | Nassarawa | Niger | Ogun | Ondo | Osun | Oyo | Plateau | Rivers | Sokoto | Taraba | Yobe | Zamfara | |
