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Ekiti State

Ekiti State of Nigeria

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Ekiti State State nickname: Fountain of Knowledge
Location

Statistics

Date Created	1 October 1996
Capital	Ado Ekiti
Area	6,353 km² Ranked 31st
Population 1991 Census 2005 estimate	Ranked 29th N/A 2,737,186

Ekiti State is a state in southwest Nigeria, created on October 1, 1996 alongside five other new states by military dictator General Sani Abacha. The state, created out of the territory of Ondo State, covered the former twelve local government areas that made up the Ekiti Zone of old Ondo State; however, 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 thiryt-six states (including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja) that constitute the Nigeria.

Following a prolonged political crisis, President Olusegun Obasanjo imposed a military administrator (General Tunji Olurin) on Ekiti State in October 2006. On April 27, 2007 Olurin was replaced by Tope Ademiluyi.^[1]

Contents

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§ 1 History

§ 2 Geography

§ 3 Climate and vegetation

§ 4 Towns and administrative divisions

§ 4.1 Local Government Areas

§ 5 Demographics

§ 6 References

§ 7 External links

[edit] 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 modern Ekiti state was formed from part of Ondo in 1996.^[2]

[edit] Geography

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 northeast trade winds blow in the rainy and dry (Harmattan) seasons respectively. Tropical forest exists in the south, while Savannah occupies the northern peripheries.