Ilaje
Ilaje is a local government area in Ondo State.
Understand
This area is occupied mainly by the Yoruba ethnic group. Its headquarters are in Igbokoda town. The major occupations in this town are fishing, canoe making, lumbering, net making, mat making, launch building, farming and trading, but especially fishing. There is even a popular saying that Ubo eri pa to, Ilaje gwa to rin, meaning "Wherever the river current runs through, there you will find the Ilaje." There are also some mineral resources like petroleum, glass sand, salt, tar, sand/bitumen, quartz and clay.
Get in
By plane
The primary airport near Ilaje is Akure Airport (AKR IATA). From Akure, then from there you would then board a bus to Ilaje – see § By bus for details.
By bus
To enter Ilaje from most states in Nigeria, you would usually need to take a bus to Akure first, then from there you can take a bus down to Ilaje. However if you are already in Ondo State, you should be able to get a bus to Ilaje directly.
Get around
You can move around in Ilaje by taking a bike, tri-cycle or bus. It depends on the distance of your journey.
Buy
- Dankareem enterprises, 2 Ilemobayo street Okunmo, along Igbokodat road, ☏ +234 807 517 2865.
- Peculiar Varieties Store, Along Union Bank road.
- Ayeka Mini Mart, 18, Lijofi Street, ☏ +234 703 637 5271.
- Emma Provision Store, Along Okitipupa Igbokoda High way.
- Roseyo Supermarket, Along Ilesanmi St.
Eat
You would always see a canteen/restaurant in every corners of the town. You should actually try out their pounded yam and okra soup as this is their favourite food over there.
- Chicken Republic, Broad St, Igbokoda, ☏ +234 705 139 0233.
- Mama Esther Food Canteen, ☏ +234 814 661 9493.
- Akinloye Restaurant, Along Ondo State University of Science & Technology.
- Orange House Restaurant, Along Okitipupa Igbokoda High way.
- Iyawo Adele Restaurant, Along Igbotako Road, ☏ +234 906 906 1065.
Drink
- Rush Hour Bar, Ikoya St.
- Pacific Bar, 40Erinje Road.
- Esiti Rock Bar, Adeoye St.
- Dj Nas beer parlour, Iretolu street, ☏ +234 706 207 1107.
Connect
You would most likely find reliable coverage of the 2G/3G mobile networks in most locations in Ilaje, but the 4G network might be unreliable. Signal strength might diminish further away from the city center, and you might occasionally experience a network outage for all or some of the mobile phone service providers in the remote areas of the city. Different networks tend to be more stable and reliable in different locations of the city at different times.
MTN, 9Mobile, Airtel (Zain) and GLO are all available service providers. So if you are planning a visit to Ilaje, like you would do for many other places in the country, you should probably consider having multiple SIM cards, preferably for all the mobile service providers, since you can't tell which will be more stable and reliable at a time in your location during your visit. And if you will risk not having any of them, you might be better off not risking the MTN network, because, from indications, it seem to perform well than the others, though its rates may be high and its offers and services might be stringent, but you are less likely to be concerned of erratic voice and data connection compared to others.
Airtel is another service provider which is fairly satisfactory for all you might need to connect to the world, including rates and network reliability. Of course, Glo (or Globacom) boasts of fast network speed for internet browsing activities, only that you might not be able to enjoy the privilege in some locations. And 9Mobile (formerly Etisalat) usually also performs well in internet browsing speed too but with locational limitations as well, plus data rate is fairly higher.