Ekiti State at 19: What you need to know about Ekiti State

Ekiti at 19: What you need to know about Ekiti State 

Ekiti is a state in western Nigeria , declared a state on October 1, 1996 alongside five others by the military under the dictatorship of General Sani Abacha.
It was caved out of Old Ondo State.

History 

Contemporary written sources and oral belief cum tradition that has been existing for several generations claim that Ekiti as a Nation that has her progeny in Oduduwa, who was regarded as the founder of the Yoruba race.

The Olofin, one of the sons of Oduduwa has 16 children and in course of searching for new land to develop, all went out of Ile-Ife, the cradle of Yoruba Nation.

On their way, 2 of the 16 children, Owa Obokun (ancestral monarch of Ijesaland) and Oragun of Ila decided to stay in the present day Ijesa and Igbomina landing in Osun State.

The remaining 12 sons continued their journey until they settled in present day Ekiti State. They discovered there were hills in the place and named in 'ile Okiti' which was letter translated to 'land of hills' and latter transformed to the name 'Ekiti'.

The 14 ancestral fathers of Ekiti are;
1. Alara of Aramoko Ekiti
2. Ajero of Ijero Ekiti
3. Oore of Otun Ekiti
4. Olojudo of Ido Ekiti
5. Ewi of Ado Ekiti
6. Ogoga of Ikere Ekiti
7. Oloye of Oye Ekiti
8. Attah of Ayede Ekiti
9. Onitaji of Itaji Ekiti
10. Owatapa of Itapa Ekiti
11. Arinjale of Ise Ekiti
12. Elemure of Emure Ekiti
13. Elekole of Ikole Ekiti
14. Onire of Ire Ekiti

Another historical account attest to the fact that Orunmila spent a great part of his life at Ado Ekiti before he went to Ile-Ife to become the Oba of Oketase, Ife-Ife.

It is also believed by some that when Oduduwa travelled to Ile-Ife, he met some people already there.
One of the people he was according to the account was Agbonniregun, also known in Yoruba history as Baba Ibadan (Father of Oracle).

The descendants of Agbonniregun were also claimed to have settled in Ekiti State, Ado Ekiti to be precise.
That is why Ife worshippers do say that 'Ado ni ile Ifa' (Ado is the house of Ife Oracle).

The people of Ekiti are culturally homogeneous, this implies that, Ekiti indigenes practice same culture and cultural belief. Their dialect of the Yoruba language is known as Ekiti and one of the unique pattern of Ekiti indigenes is that, they understand one another perfectly well irrespective of dialectical variations of their town or communities.

Almost all the major towns in Ekiti State take the suffix 'Ekiti', for instance Ikole Ekiti, Ado Ekiti, Ilawe Ekiti, Ikere Ekiti, Omuo Ekiti, among others except Efon Alaye that has no suffix of Ekiti.

Ekiti State was carved out of the territory of old Ondo State , covers the former twelve local government areas that made up the Ekiti Zone of old Ondo State. On creation, it took off with sixteen (16) Local Government Areas (LGAs), having had an additional four carved out of the old ones. Ekiti State is one of the thirty-six states  plus Federal Capital Territory that constitute Nigeria.

Ekiti State is reputed to have produced the highest number of professors in Nigeria.
Several pioneers academics are from the state.
Pioneers like Profs Adegoke Olubummo (One of the 1st Nigerian Professors in the field of Mathematics), Prof. Ekundayo Adeyinka Adeyemi(1st Professor of Architecture in Africa, South of Sahara). Others include renowned academics like Profs J.F. Ade-Ajayi, Niyi Osundare, Sam Aluko and others too many to mention.

Following a prolonged political crisis, President Olusegun Obasanjo imposed a military administrator (General Toni Olurin ) on Ekiti State in October 2006. On April 27, 2007 Olurin was replaced by Tope Ademiluyi.

In the PDP primary of 2006, 1st-place finisher, Yinka Akerele and 2nd place Prof. Adesegun Ojo were supposed to be in a run-off to determine who would be the nominee of the Nigerian ruling party when President Oba Sanyo summoned them to Abuja and imposed the candidate who came third - Engineer Segun Oni.

He was later elected in the 2007 election as the governor of the state in an election marred by widespread irregularities and the AC candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi challenged his election
and forced a rerun in May 2009.

The May 2009 rerun was characterized by even worse rigging and the election was disputes again. Eventually, after three years, the election of Oni was thrown out and Dr. Kayode Fayemi was declared the duly elected governor of Ekiti State.

In June 2014, The incumbent governor, Mr.  Ayo Fayose of PDP made a come back as the governor after defeating the then incumbent, Dr. Kayode Fayose of APC.

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 undulating 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-Alaaye, 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-Alaaye Hills on the western boundary and Ado-Ekiti Hills
in the centre.

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 northeast trade winds blow in the
rainy and dry (Harmattan) seasons respectively.

Tropical

Forest exists in the south, while savannah occupies the northern peripheries.

Towns and administrative divisions

The people of Ekiti State live mainly in towns. These towns include: Ado, Awo Ekiti , Ayegbaju Ekiti , Efon-Alaaye , Aramoko Ekiti , Temidire-Ikole Local Govt, Igede Ekiti , Ikole , Ayede , Isan, Iye Ayede, Ikere , Ire , Ijero ,Ayetoro , Ipoti , Igogo, Ise, Itapa , Otun , Usi Ekiti , Ido , Emure , Iyin , Igede , Ilawe , Ode, Oye , Omuo , Ilupeju ,
Ikoro ,Iloro, Ijurin, Ikun, Iye, Ijesa-Isu , Ayedun, Aisegba, Osin , Okemesi , Iworoko, Ifaki , Osan , Erinmope , Asin-Ekiti , Orin, Ilogbo Ekiti , Osi , Igbole , Ora , Aye, Ikogosi Erio ,
[Igbara-Odo](Ogotun), Erijiyan Ekiti Iludun , Ilemeso, Otun , Itapaji , Imojo , Ire Ekiti , Eda Oniyo , Gogo Ekiti , Odooro
Ekiti , Ijan Ekiti, Epe Ekiti, Usi Ekiti , Ijesa-Isu Ekiti

Local Government Areas

Ekiti State consists of sixteen (16) Local Government Areas. They are:
Ado-Ekiti
Oye
Aiyekire (Gbonyin)
Efon
Ekiti East
Ekiti South-West
Ekiti West
Emure
Ido-Osi
Ijero
Ikere
Ikole
Ilejemeje
Irepodun/Ifelodun
Ise/Orun
Moba

Demographics

The Ekiti, whose ancestors migrated from Ile-Ife as a people, form 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 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 Isapa soup or vegetable soup.

National Resources 

Ekiti land is naturally endowed with numerous natural resources. The state is potentially rich in mineral deposits. These include granite, kaolin, columbite, channockete, iron ore, baryte, aquamine, gemstone, phosphate, limestone,GOLD 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, Ose, and Ogbese. More so a variety of tourist attractions abound in the state namely, Ikogosi Warm Spring, Ipole - Iloro Water Falls, Olosunta hills, Ikere, Fajuyi Memorial Park 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.

Moreover, the land is buoyant in agricultural resources with cocoa as its leading cash crop. 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.

Because of the favorable climatic conditions, the land enjoys luxuriant vegetation, thus, it has abundant resources of different species of timber. Food crops like yam, cassava, and also grains like rice and maize are grown in large qualities. Other notable crops like kola nut and varieties of fruits are also cultivated in commercial quantities.

I celebrate with my Ekiti this day as she celebrates her birthday.
Good bless Ekiti State. 

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