Ekiti

Ekiti State, created in October 1996 from the eastern part of the former Ondo State, occupies an upland area of south-western Nigeria populated by Ekiti Yoruba communities organised traditionally around numerous small kingdoms, each historically headed by an oba. Its capital, Ado-Ekiti, is the seat of the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, one of the leading traditional rulers in the state. Ekiti has a strong reputation within Nigeria for education, producing a high proportion of graduates and professionals relative to its population, and it markets itself under the nickname "Land of Honour". The state's economy rests mainly on agriculture, particularly the cultivation of yam, cassava and cocoa, on a landscape of rolling hills and granite outcrops that gives Ekiti a cooler, more temperate climate than much of the surrounding region.

The Ekiti Yoruba established a network of small kingdoms across the hilly terrain of the region, historically organised in a confederation-like political structure with numerous obas rather than a single dominant central authority, distinguishing Ekiti politically from areas dominated by the Oyo Empire. Ekiti kingdoms were drawn into the nineteenth-century Yoruba wars, notably as part of the Ekitiparapo alliance formed to resist Ibadan's expansion, a struggle that shaped regional political alignments into the colonial period. Under British rule, the Ekiti area was administered as part of Ondo Province and later the Western Region. Following Nigeria's return to a federal structure with increasing numbers of states, the region campaigned for separate statehood, and Ekiti State was created on 1 October 1996 under the military government of General Sani Abacha, carved from Ondo State, with Ado-Ekiti selected as capital. Since then Ekiti has developed its own state institutions while retaining close cultural and linguistic ties to Ondo, Osun and the wider Yoruba south-west.

Ekiti State lies inland in south-western Nigeria, bordered by Kwara and Kogi states to the north, Ondo State to the east and south, and Osun State to the west. Its terrain is markedly hilly for the region, consisting of an undulating upland dotted with granite outcrops and inselbergs, with elevations generally higher than the surrounding lowland areas, giving the state a somewhat cooler climate. The vegetation is transitional between tropical rainforest and derived savanna. Rivers draining the state feed into the wider Niger and Ogun-Osun river systems, and the terrain has historically supported both farming and, in the hillier districts, small-scale quarrying of granite. The climate follows the typical south-western Nigerian pattern of a long wet season and shorter dry season with harmattan influence.

Agriculture remains the mainstay of Ekiti State's economy, with cocoa, yam, cassava, maize and citrus fruits widely cultivated across its hilly farmland. The state is also known for its concentration of tertiary institutions, including Ekiti State University and Afe Babalola University, which have made education both a cultural priority and an economic sector in its own right, with many families in the state prioritising schooling and professional careers. Granite quarrying takes place in parts of the state given its outcrop-studded terrain. Ado-Ekiti functions as the main commercial centre, hosting markets, government offices and banking services for the wider state. Ekiti has a comparatively small industrial base relative to more urbanised south-western states, with public administration and services forming a significant part of formal employment.