In the south, Ekiti State was created from Ondo, with its cap. Other important cities Lagos, Ibadan, Kano, Ogbomosho, Oshogbo and Ilorin. The hot, dust-laden harmattan blows from the Sahara during the dry season. The land then rises to an undulating plateau of savannah country, dissected by the Niger and Benue rivers. Lying wholly within the tropics, temperatures everywhere are high.
Rainfall varies very much, but decreases from the coast to the interior.
English is the official lang. The N is mainly Muslim, the S predominantly Christian and the W evenly divided between Muslim, Christian and animists. About 80 per cent of the land mass is suitable for agriculture and it employs 43 per cent of the labour force. The N produces groundnuts, tobacco, cotton, soybeans, hides, and the S palm products, cocoa, timber and rubber. Manufactures are mainly for local consumption, such as plywood, soap, cigarettes, groundnut oil, fertilizers, petrochemicals, assembly of vehicles and food-processing.