USA Africa Dialogue Series - {Revised} Ogun State of Nigeria: A Ethno-Politico-Geography Lesson in Five Minutes

[Mobolaji ALUKO]

REVISED, SHOWING ONE ADDITIONAL MAP

 

 

May 17, 2010

 

 

 

Dear All:

 

The location of Ogun State (among 35 others + FCT)  - capital Abeokuta, area 16,409.26 sq kilometres, 2006 population 3,728,098 - is shown in the colorful map of Nigeria below.

 

 

MAP 1:  State Structure of Nigeria

 

 

 

 

Ogun State is comprised of 20 local governments:  Abeokuta North, Abeokuta South, Ado-Odo/Ota,  Ewekoro, Ifo, Ijebu East, Ijebu North, Ijebu North East, Ijebu Ode, Ikenne, Imeko-Afon, Ipokia, Obafemi-Owode, Ogun Waterside, Odeda, Odogbolu, Remo North, Shagamu, Yewa North and Yewa South, all of

which are shown in the map below.

 

 

 

MAP 2:  LOCAL GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE OF OGUN STATE

 

 

 

 

Ogun State is also made up of six ethnic groups viz, the Egba, the Ijebu, the Remo, the Yewa (since 1985; formerly Egbado), the Awori and the Egun. The language of the majority of the people of Ogun State is Yoruba but this is however broken into scores of dialects. 

 

Politically, the state is considered broken into Egba, Ijebu, Remo and Yewa-Awori zones:

 

Senatorial Districts:

1. Ogun West (Yewa-Awori) - 5 LGs: [Yewa: Yewa North, Yewa South,]  [Awori: Ado-Odo/Ota,] [Ketu, Egun, others: Imeko-Afon,  Ipokia],  

2. Ogun Central (Egba)- 6 LGs: Abeokuta North, Abeokuta South, Odeda, Ewekoro, Ifo, Obafemi-Owode

3. Ogun East (Remo;  Ijebu Zones)- 9 LGs:  [Remo: Remo North, Ikenne, Sagamu;] [Ijebu: Odogbolu, Ijebu North (HQ: Ijebu-Igbo), Ijebu North East, Ijebu Ode, Ijebu East, Ogun Waterside]

 

 

A highlight of Ijebu-land towns surrounding Ijebu-Ode is shown below:

 

 

MAP 3:  SOME TOWNS IN IJEBU-LAND (CENTERED AROUND IJEBU-ODE)

 

 

 

 

 

Note that if an Ijebu state were to be created out of Ogun State,  then it would be the Ogun East Senatorial District.   However,  even before its creation, there is agitation among Odogbolu and Ijebu-Ode (two Ijebu towns shown on Map 3 above, along the brown East-West highway) and Ikenne (a Remo town not shown on Map 3, but located directly south of Ilishan and lying to the west of Odogbolu on the same brown East-West highway) as to which of those towns should be its capital!  The Awujale (of Ijebu-Ode, nay of Ijebuland?)  is supporting Ijebu-Ode, Governor Gbenga Daniel (a Remo from Sagamu) is allegedly supporting Ikenne (in honor of where fellow Remo Chief Obafemi Awolowo hails from), and General Oladipo Diya (an indigene of Odogbolu) is supporting - you guessed it - Odogbolu!

 

Lord have mercy!  I have no dog in the fight, but looking at the map, if ever an Ijebu State were to be created, the capital should be put in the more central Ogbere, capital of Ijebu-North-East Local Government.

 

But a more immediate issue is the 2011 gubernatorial battle.  In the history of the state, Bisi Onabanjo (October 1979- December 1983; an Ijebu), Segun Osoba (January 1992 -  November 1993; May 1999- May 2003; an Egba),  and Gbenga Daniel (May 2003 - May 2010; a Remo) have been its civilian governors.  The Yewa-Awori therefore say it is their turn - that the position should be zoned to them - to the chagrin of the Ijebu and Egba, who say that they are in the majority in the state, and that Ogun has been ruled by a "minority-minority" ticket (Daniel, Remo; his Deputy Alhaja Salimot Badru, Yewa) for the past eight years, that a majority should be on the top of the ticket this time.

 

And there you have it.

 

 

 

 

Bolaji Aluko

 

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