Ogun State

Ogun is a state in southwestern Nigeria. As a Nigerian state, Ogun is the second most industrialised state after Lagos, with a focus on metal processing. It has good road and rail connections to the harbours in Lagos and Lekki.
Abeokuta is both Ogun State's capital and most populous city and the capital of Egba Kingdom; other important cities in the state include Ijebu-Ode, the capital of the Ijebu Kingdom, and Sagamu, the capital of the Remo Kingdom and Nigeria's leading Kola nut grower. Ilaro, the capital of Yewa South Local Government Area (Yewa Kingdom). Ogun state is covered predominantly by rain forest and has wooden savanna in the northwest. Ogun State had a total population of 3,751,140 residents as of 2006, making Ogun State the 16th most populated state in Nigeria. In terms of landmass, Ogun State is the 24th largest State in Nigeria with land area of 16,762 kilometer square.
Ogun State is predominantly Yoruba, with the Yoruba Language serving as the lingua franca of the state. The dominant religions in Ogun State are majority Islam and minority Christianity although a certain amount of traditional religion is still practiced. Ogun State is noted for being the almost exclusive site of Ofada rice production. Ogun is also home to many icons in Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. Wole Soyinka, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature 1986, lives in Abeokuta, Ogun.
In pre-colonial times, today's Ogun western portion which is now inhabited by the Egba and Yewa people belonged to the kingdom of Oyo, which sank into civil war mid 1800s. South of Ogun, on the tiny island of Lagos, the British had a naval base near which the town of the same name grew rapidly.
Until the Berlin Congo Conference in 1885, Great Britain had focused on a few strategically placed bases for its merchant fleet and navy, such as Lagos and Calabar, and was not interested in the communities developing there.
After the European colonial powers had staked out their spheres of interest 1885 in Berlin (these were only valid if another power had not previously brought the area in question under its control) the United Kingdom quickly expanded thusly its territory in the assigned Niger region. Today's Ogun became part of the "Protectorate of Lagos" (as opposed to the Colony of Lagos; the border between these two is identical to the modern border between Lagos State and Ogun State - inhabitants of a colony were treated as fully entitled subjects of the British crown, those in protectorates were not) in 1893 and later of the "Protectorate of Yorubaland", in 1906 of the "Protectorate of Southern Nigeria" and in 1914 of the whole of Nigeria. In 1899 it received a railway connection to Lagos, the "Boat Express" ran through Ogun to Apapa and thus connected the region with the wider world. In 1899, it was several years earlier in this than other regions in West and Central Africa that were not connected to the coast.
In the 1930s, Ogun was a centre of the Nigerian women's movement under the leadership of Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (Fela Kuti's mother). Democracy in colonial Nigeria after 1922 only existed in Lagos and Calabar; Nigerians could not participate politically elsewhere (see here).
During the 1940s, food was strictly rationed in Nigeria. The transport of food from the more agrarian Ogun to the hungry metropolis of Lagos was severely penalized (Pullen Scheme, see here).
In the first elections in Ogun, 1954, the semi-socialist "Action Group" (AG) under Ọbáfẹ́mi Awólọ́wọ̀ became the strongest party in the Western Region, to which Ogun also belonged.
After independence in 1960, the Yoruba region, and Ogun in particular, was engulfed in conflict between the Ọbáfẹ́mi Awólọ́wọ̀ and Samuel Ládòkè Akíntọ́lá fractions of the AG party ("Operation Wetie", see here). In July 1966, the then ruler of Nigeria, Johnson Agulyi-Ironsi, was assassinated in Abeokuta in the second coup of the year, which was the prelude to the Biafra War.
The state was formed on 3 February 1976 from part of the former "Western" state.
Ogun State borders the Republic of Benin to the West for about 185 km, Oyo State and Osun State (for 84 km) to the North, Ondo State to the east, Lagos State to the South for about 283 km, and has 31.6 km of coastline on the Bight of Benin to the south, Araromi beach belongs to Irokun land in Ogun Waterside (Ijebu province) local government but insistently claimed by Ondo state due to the influx of Ilaje migrants from neighbouring communities and due to no attention given to this area by the Ogun state government.
Ogun State consists of twenty local government areas. They are:
Ogun has a Tropical wet and dry or savanna climate. The city's yearly average temperature is 29.34 °C (84.81 °F) and it is -0.12% lower than Nigeria's averages. Ogun receives about 141.58 millimeters (5.57 inches) of precipitation and has 224.18 rainy days (61.42% of the time) annually.
The state has a very high concentration of industries (the second most industrialized after Lagos State) and has one of the lowest incidences of extreme poverty (around 5% of the population against a national average of 31%) according to World Bank data from 2018.
Major companies in Ogun include the Dangote Cement factory in Ibese, Nestle, Lafarge Cement factory in Ewekoro, Memmcol in Orimerunmu, Coleman Cables in Sagamu and Arepo, Procter & Gamble in Agbara. In September 2024, The Ogun State Government announced the establishment of a $5 million battery recycling plant by a British company.
Mining and agriculture are among the most important economic sectors in Ogun. Limestone, chalk, phosphate and gravel are mined and grain, rice, maize, cassava, yams, bananas, cocoa, kola nuts, rubber, palm oil and palm kernels are harvested. The state is the largest producer of kolanut in Nigeria.
The following are the mineral resources in Ogun State:
Ogún is also the name of the god (Orisha) for metalworking in the local Yoruba nature religion, similar to the Greek Hephaestus or the Roman god Vulcan (since the ancient world had trade relations with present-day Nigeria, this may not be entirely coincidental). The state lives up to this name by being the Nigerian centre for metalworking. Here are two examples:
Ogun also produces timber, ceramic products, bicycle tyres, carpets, adhesives and other products.
The State government is led by a democratically elected governor who works closely with members of the state's house of assembly. The capital city of the state is Abeokuta.
The governor of the state is selected using a modified two-round system. To be elected in the first round, a candidate must receive the plurality of the vote and over 25% of the vote in at least two -third of the State local government Areas. If no candidate passes threshold, a second round will be held between the top candidate and the next candidate to have received a plurality of votes in the highest number of local government Areas.
The current governor is Prince Dapo Abiodun, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who heads the Executive Council of Ogun State. On Wednesday 29 May 2019, Dapo Abiodun was sworn in as the fifth Governor of the State at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Kuto, Abeokuta. He was re-elected for a second term in office by March 2023.
Ogun State is divided into three senatorial districts:
The main ethnic groups in Ogun State are the Ẹgba, Ijebu, Remo, Yewa, Awori and a minority Egun people. There are also sub groups like the Ikale, the Ketu, the Ohori and the Anago.
Mainly Muslim and Christian, some traditional Yoruba animism.
The Anglican Province of Lagos within the Church of Nigeria includes the ten Dioceses of Awori led by Bishop Johnson Akin Atere (2009), Egba (1976) led by Bishop Emmanuel Adekunle (2009), Egba West (2007) led by Bishop Samuel Oludele Ogundeji (2010), Ifo (2007) led by Bishop Nathaniel Oladejo Ogundipe (2012), Ijebu led by Bishop Peter Rotimi Oludipe (2020), Ijebu-North led by Bishop Solomon Kuponu (2005), Remo led by Bishop Michael Fape (2004, Archbishop of Lagos 2016-21), Yewa, formerly Egbado led by Bishop Michael Adebayo Oluwarohunbi (2014), and Ijebu-South West led by Bishop Babatunde Ogunbanwo (2009).
179,014 Catholics (2020) in the Dioceses of Abeokuta (1997) with 60 parishes under Bishop Peter Kayode Odetoyinbo (2014) and Ijebu-Ode (1969) with 40 parishes under Bishop Francis Obafemi Adesina (2019), both suffragans of the Archdiocese of Lagos.
Ogun state has three federal secondary schools; Federal Government Girls' College, Sagamu and Federal Government College, Odogbolu and Federal Science and Technical College, Ijebu-Imushin.
Ogun state has one Federal University; the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) and one Federal college of education, FCE Osiele (both at Odeda Local government area), one state government college of education, named after the late Nigerian educationist of international repute Augustus Taiwo Solarin in 1994 as Tai Solarin College of Education (TASCE), (formerly known as Ogun State College of Education, Ijagun, Ijebu-Ode, one Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro). One is named after late Nigerian business mogul and winner of 12 June 1993 election, Basorun Moshood Kasimawo Olawale Abiola as Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY), formerly known as Ogun State Polytechnic, Ojere, Abeokuta, Another Gateway Polytechnic Saapade, Remo (GAPOSA), Abraham Adesanya Polytechnic Ijebu-Igbo (Aapoly) (formerly known as 'The Polytechnic Ijebu-Igbo) it was name after Chief Abraham Aderibigbe Adesanya who was a Nigerian politician, lawyer and activist.
Two state government universities: Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye (formerly known as Ogun State University), and the Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED) Ijebu Ode.
Ogun State has a total of nine registered universities, the highest of any state in Nigeria. It has five private universities. Amongst which are Chrisland University, Hallmark University in Ijebu-itele, Abeokuta Bells University of Technology in Ota, Covenant University and Babcock University in Ilisan-Remo, which was the first private university in the country.
The state has two major government hospitals: the Federal Medical Center at Abeokuta, and the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital in Sagamu. The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Permanent Orientation Camp is located at Sagamu Local Government area of the state.
Ogun state government has begun the itele road.
Ogun benefits from its proximity to the metropolis of Lagos and the new deep-sea harbour and the new Dangote refinery in Lekki (as of 2024). The planned airport Lagos-Epe will be located next to the border to the state of Ogun.
Ogun benefits from the Lagos-Abeokuta-Ibadan standard rail link since 2021.
The planned Apapa-Kajola Express will connect the centre of the state with the Lagos port.
Abeokuta also is connected with Lagos by 77 km of the Western Railway (built in 1899), which still is used for freight trains.
The terminus of the "Red Line" of the Lagos suburban railway is located in Agbado, which is part of the Lagos agglomeration but belongs to the state of Ogun in administrative terms. This is why the trains and carriages of Lagos State will be parked, cleaned and maintained in Ogun.
Federal Highways are:
Three roads to the Republic of Benin:
Other major roads include: