Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. Ogun is the second most industrialized state after Lagos, with a focus on metal processing. It has good road and rail connections to the harbors in Lagos and Lekki. Wole Soyinka, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986, lives in Ogun. In this article, we shall be discussing the brief history of the state, and local governments, and the total landmass of each of the local governments available.

Brief History Of Ogun State

Ogun State is the 24th largest State in Nigeria with a 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 state capital, Abeokuta, was founded around 1830 by a hunter called Sodeke who was the leader of the Egba refugees that fled when the once-powerful Oyo Empire crumbled under the weight of internecine wars.

However, Abeokuta later gained prominence as the capital of the Egbas and faced several threats of invasion by the Kingdom of Dahomey located where the modern-day Republic of Benin lies. Also with the help of some European missionaries and British officers, the Egbas were able to repel the threat of Dahomey.
Ogun State was originally part of the Western Region in the three-region structure of 1954. With the creation of twelve federal states by General Yakubu Gowon’s military government in 1967, it became part of Western State.

In 1976, Ogun State was carved out of Western State by the military administration of General Murtala Muhammed. Ogun State indigenes belong to the Yoruba ethnic group, comprising mainly the Egba, the Yewa, the Awori, the Egun, the Ijebu, and the Remo. The two main religions in the state are Christianity and Islam. Traditional religion is still practiced, though not by a large proportion of the people.

 Local government Areas and Landmass

Economically, Ogun state is one of the richest and most developed areas in Nigeria which 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. Nicknamed the “Gateway to Nigeria”, the state is notable for having a high concentration of industrial Estates and being a major manufacturing hub in Nigeria. Major factories 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, amongst others.

However, Geographically Ogun State borders the Republic of Benin to the west for about 185 km, Oyo State and Osun State 84 km to the north, Ondo State to the east, Lagos State to the south for about 283 km, and 16 km of coastline on the Bight of Benin to the south, interrupted by Araromi Beach exclave of Ondo State. and Politically 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-thirds of the State local government Areas. If no candidate passes the 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 State government is led by a democratically elected governor who works closely with the state’s House of Assembly members. The capital city of the state is Abeokuta with a total landmass of 16,762-kilometer square with 20 local government ares.

The available figures are not from Landmart .ng but from online reports

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