Ogun State

Ogun State is a state in South West Nigeria. It is bordered by Lagos State to the south, Oyo and Osun states to the north, Ondo State to the east and the Republic of Benin to the west.

Cities

Understand

Ogun State was created in 1976. It was carved out from the old Western State of Nigeria and it is named after the Ogun River which runs across it from north to south. Ogun State comprised of former Abeokuta and Ijebu provinces of former Western state. It is covered predominantly by tropical rain forest and has wooded savanna in the Northwest. Most of the inhabitants of Ogun state are predominantly the Ijebus, Remos, Aworis, Egbas and Yewas who belong to Yoruba ethnic group. It also has sub-groups, namely, Ketu, Ikale, Ilaje, Ohori, Anago and Egun. There are also significant numbers of Nigerians from other parts of the country as well as foreign nationals.

Ogun State is nicknamed the "Gateway to Nigeria". The state has an estimated population of 5,217,700 and occupy an area of 16,667 km².

The state is notable for having a high concentration of industrial estates and being a major manufacturing hub in Nigeria such as: 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, amongst many others.

The main cash crops of Ogun State are: rice, beans, melon, corn (maize), cassava (manioc), yams, plantains, and bananas. Cocoa, kola nuts, rubber, palm oil and palm kernels, tobacco, cotton, and timber.

The state has so many natural resources such as: limestone, phosphate, granite stone, gypsum, bauxite, bitumen, feldspar, clay, glass sand, kaolin, quartz, tar sand, gemstones and crude oil

Get in

There is no international airport in Ogun State, however, one could get in via the closest airport to the state.

By plane

Lagos is close (about 100 km) to the border with Benin. Should you fly out of the International Airport in Lagos, arrive early, especially close to weekends and festive days, as the security has been beefed up significantly (you need to have your passport and ticket to enter the airport departure area) since December 2009 liquid explosive incident where the terrorist started his journey from Murtala Muhammed International Airport.

Once you get in via the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos State, all you need to do is to board a cab, go to Ogun State, and you can be sure to see a lot of cabs (taxis) and one-off drop-offs system readily available to take people just traveling into the state to their preferred location. The distance between the Murtala Muhammed international airport and Ogun State is just about 60 km, which means the cab will journey for about 60 km before it will take you into Ogun State.

By bus

From any location you are, you can journey into Ogun State by bus, this is the most popular method to get into Ogun State, as all you need to do is to get to the bus station and get on a bus traveling to Ogun State, and the price is usually dependent on where you are traveling from. If you are traveling from Lagos State into Ogun State, it usually costs about #1200-#1500, the price usually ranges but most likely wouldn't go above #1500. If you are traveling from Benin City into Ogun State from the Benin Park, it costs just about #5,000-#6,000, and from other parts too, the prices just varies depending on the distance.

By train

Another way to get into Ogun State is by train, although not available everywhere, there are rail services from Lagos State to Ogun State and Ibadan to Ogun State, all you need to do is to get to the rail station, buy a ticket and you are ready to journey.

Get around

There are taxis (cab) spread all over Ogun State to take you around and it is affordable as it could be as low as #50 and as high as #500 depending on the distance of where you are going to.

See

Olumo Rock is one of the places tourist and visitors can go to behold the beauty of nature. Olumo Rock is a historically significant formation of rocks. The rock’s reputation severed as a formidable refuge during wartime in 19th century in Yorubaland.

Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) is a place of fun located at Oke Mosan, Abeokuta which offers a diverse selection of memorable settings. There’s a cinema, wild life park, pool, bar to chill out in a conducive environment, there are rocks and hill in the library compound where one can have sight seeing of the environment and outside the library. You are free to visit without going into the library and entering into the compound is free but to visit the cinema and few other places is not free.

Learn

Ogun State is the host for various Federal, State, and private universities, colleges of education, and polytechnics such as:

  • Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB)Babcock University, Ilisan Remo
  • Bells University of Technology, Ota
  • Chrisland University, Abeokuta
  • Christopher University, Lagos Ibadan ExpresWay Makun, Sagamu
  • Covenant University, Ota
  • Crawford University, Igbesa
  • Crescent University, Abeokuta
  • Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro
  • McPherson University, Seriki-Sotayo
  • Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Ojere (MAPOLY) formerly known as Ogun State Polytechnic
  • Mountain Top University, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway
  • National Open University of Nigeria, Kobape, Abeokuta
  • Ogun State College of Health Technology, Ilese, Ijebu Ode
  • Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye is formerly known as Ogun State University
  • Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Ijebu-Ode (TASCE) formally known as Ogun State College of Education
  • Babcock University in Ilisan-Remo

Go next
This article is issued from Wikivoyage. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.