# Ondo State
**Ondo State** is a state in southwestern Nigeria, nicknamed the "Sunshine State", with its capital at Akure. It was created from the former Western State on 3 February 1976 and originally included what is now [Ekiti State](https://www.edgepedia.org/ekiti-state), which split off in 1996.[1](https://neiti.gov.ng/cms/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/NEITI-FASD-2022-2023-REPORT.pdf) The state is made up of 18 Local Government Areas and is bounded by Ekiti and Kogi States to the north, [Edo State](https://www.edgepedia.org/edo-state) to the east, Oyo and Ogun States to the west, and the [Atlantic Ocean](https://www.edgepedia.org/atlantic-ocean) to the south.[2](https://mepb.on.gov.ng/meet-us/ondo-state-profile/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Official name / appellation | Ondo State of Nigeria; "Sunshine State"[2](https://mepb.on.gov.ng/meet-us/ondo-state-profile/) |
| Created | 3 February 1976, from the former Western State; Ekiti State separated in 1996[1](https://neiti.gov.ng/cms/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/NEITI-FASD-2022-2023-REPORT.pdf) |
| Capital and structure | Akure; 18 Local Government Areas, 203 political wards, 3 senatorial districts[2](https://mepb.on.gov.ng/meet-us/ondo-state-profile/) • [3](https://oag.on.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2024-FINANCIAL-STATEMENTS-LATEST.pdf) |
| Population | 3,460,877 at the 2006 census; state projections of 4,883,792 and an estimated 5.316 million as of 2024[2](https://mepb.on.gov.ng/meet-us/ondo-state-profile/) • [3](https://oag.on.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2024-FINANCIAL-STATEMENTS-LATEST.pdf) |
| Land area | 14,788.723 square kilometers per the state profile; approximately 15,500 square kilometers per the state's financial statements[2](https://mepb.on.gov.ng/meet-us/ondo-state-profile/) • [3](https://oag.on.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2024-FINANCIAL-STATEMENTS-LATEST.pdf) |
| Signature resources | Africa's largest bitumen deposit, estimated at 42 billion barrels; Nigeria's leading cocoa producer, contributing over 40% of national cocoa exports[4](https://nipc.gov.ng/nigeria/ondo) • [5](https://ondostate.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ONDIPA_Corporate_Plan.pdf) |
| Poverty | Lowest multidimensional poverty rate in Nigeria: an estimated 1.3 million people, or 27% of the population, against a national rate of 63%[6](https://pindfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Ondo-State-LMA-Report-Designed.pdf) |
| Governor | Hon. Dr. Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa; Deputy Governor Chief Olayide Owolabi Adelami[7](https://ondostate.gov.ng/executive) |
## Geography and climate
The state lies between longitudes 4°30′ and 6° East and latitudes 5°45′ and 8°15′ North, entirely within the tropics.[2](https://mepb.on.gov.ng/meet-us/ondo-state-profile/) Its landscape ranges from mangrove swamps along the Atlantic coast to moist lowland rainforest and forest-savannah in the north.[1](https://neiti.gov.ng/cms/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/NEITI-FASD-2022-2023-REPORT.pdf) • [8](https://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/download/127)
**Climate.** The climate is tropical with two distinct seasons: a rainy season from April to October and a dry season from November to March.[1](https://neiti.gov.ng/cms/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/NEITI-FASD-2022-2023-REPORT.pdf) Annual rainfall varies from about 1,150 mm in the northern parts to 2,000 mm in the south, decreasing from the coast toward the hinterland, and temperatures range between 21 °C and 29 °C through the year.[8](https://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/download/127) • [2](https://mepb.on.gov.ng/meet-us/ondo-state-profile/) Rivers draining to the Atlantic include the Owena, Oluwa, Oni, Awara, Ogbese, Awo, and Ose.[8](https://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/download/127)
The length of the coastline is reported differently by state documents: the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission page gives an Atlantic coastline of about 180 kilometers, described as the longest in Nigeria, while the ONDIPA corporate plan cites a 75-kilometer coastline.[4](https://nipc.gov.ng/nigeria/ondo) • [5](https://ondostate.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ONDIPA_Corporate_Plan.pdf)
## People
The people are predominantly Yoruba, grouped into dialectical communities including the Akoko, Akure, Apoi, Idanre, Ikale, Ilaje, Ondo, and Owo; Ijaw communities (the Ijaw-Arogbo and Ijaw-Apoi) inhabit parts of the riverine areas and are not of Yoruba extraction.[2](https://mepb.on.gov.ng/meet-us/ondo-state-profile/) • [8](https://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/download/127) English is the official language, Yoruba and Ijaw are widely spoken, and the state's sub-groups use several dialects.[2](https://mepb.on.gov.ng/meet-us/ondo-state-profile/) • [3](https://oag.on.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2024-FINANCIAL-STATEMENTS-LATEST.pdf) Major occupations are subsistence farming, fishing, and trading.[2](https://mepb.on.gov.ng/meet-us/ondo-state-profile/)
Cultural life includes festivals such as Ogun, Olokun, Igogo, Egungun, Orosun, Boat Regatta, and Mare, the mountain-climbing festival held each December at Idanre.[2](https://mepb.on.gov.ng/meet-us/ondo-state-profile/) Tourist sites include Idanre Hills, Ebomi Lake at Ipesi in Akoko South East, and the Iho-Eleeru cave ("cave of ashes") at Isarun in Ifedore Local Government Area.[2](https://mepb.on.gov.ng/meet-us/ondo-state-profile/)
## History
Ondo State was one of the states created on 3 February 1976 and took off formally on 1 April 1976, consisting of the nine administrative divisions of the former Western State.[1](https://neiti.gov.ng/cms/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/NEITI-FASD-2022-2023-REPORT.pdf) • [9](https://ijcua.com/ijcua/article/download/37/233?inline=1) Before Ekiti State was carved out in 1996, Ondo had twenty-six Local Government Areas; the present state has eighteen.[9](https://ijcua.com/ijcua/article/download/37/233?inline=1) • [2](https://mepb.on.gov.ng/meet-us/ondo-state-profile/)
## Economy
**Agriculture** anchors the economy. Ondo is Nigeria's leading cocoa producer, with an annual output of 80,000 metric tonnes and over 40% of the nation's cocoa exports; other major outputs include cassava (5 million metric tonnes annually), oil palm, rubber, cashew, kola nut, rice, and yams.[5](https://ondostate.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ONDIPA_Corporate_Plan.pdf) • [2](https://mepb.on.gov.ng/meet-us/ondo-state-profile/) The state's "Red Gold Project" aims to expand oil palm production to 320,000 metric tonnes annually.[5](https://ondostate.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ONDIPA_Corporate_Plan.pdf)
**Minerals and oil.** The state sits on Africa's largest bitumen deposit, an estimated 42 billion barrels of tar sands spread across a 120 km coastal belt through Ilaje, Okitipupa, and Irele Local Government Areas, with current extraction essentially zero.[4](https://nipc.gov.ng/nigeria/ondo) It produces 60,000 barrels of crude oil daily, ranking as the 5th largest oil producer in Nigeria, and also holds silica sand, limestone, granite, kaolin, coal, and columbite.[5](https://ondostate.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ONDIPA_Corporate_Plan.pdf) • [2](https://mepb.on.gov.ng/meet-us/ondo-state-profile/)
**Investment drive.** The Ondo State Development and Investment Promotion Agency (ONDIPA) operates as a one-stop shop for investors, and the state's corporate plan targets growth of GDP from $12 billion to $40 billion by 2030, 50 high-impact foreign direct investment projects annually, and 100,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2026.[5](https://ondostate.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ONDIPA_Corporate_Plan.pdf) At the Ondo State Investment Summit 2026 in Akure, the government signed two Memoranda of Understanding: one for a Deep Sea Port project in which the government will hold a 12.5 percent stake with partnering companies taking 87.5 percent equity, and another with Resident Fertilizer for a $4 billion petrochemical fertilizer plant in the state's southern senatorial district.[10](https://ondostate.gov.ng/news-details?id=955339) The 2025 budget, named the "Budget of Recovery", lists the establishment of Port-Ondo, highway construction and rehabilitation, and the Owena Dam rehabilitation and reticulation to Akure, co-sponsored with the French Development Agency, among its key projects.[11](https://ondobudget.org/citizen_budget/2025%20CB-%20final-amended.pdf)
## Government and public finance
The state operates a constitutional democracy within Nigeria's federal system, with an elected executive headed by the governor, a legislature headed by the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, and a judiciary headed by the Chief Judge, all seated in Akure.[2](https://mepb.on.gov.ng/meet-us/ondo-state-profile/) • [8](https://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/download/127) It comprises 3 senatorial districts (Ondo North, Ondo Central, and Ondo South), 9 federal constituencies, and 26 state constituencies.[3](https://oag.on.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2024-FINANCIAL-STATEMENTS-LATEST.pdf) • [8](https://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/download/127)
**Revenue.** In the period reviewed by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, the state received total inflows of ₦370.00 billion, with 2023 accounting for 55.51% of that total and rising 24.75% from ₦265.06 billion in 2022. Federal allocation made up 55.64% of inflows, internally generated revenue 19.81%, other income 12.63%, and loans 11.92%.[1](https://neiti.gov.ng/cms/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/NEITI-FASD-2022-2023-REPORT.pdf) The pSPI 2025 assessment describes Ondo as revenue-moderate, performing above the national average in internally generated revenue but well behind leading economic states such as Lagos and Ogun.[12](https://pspi.com.ng/ondo/)
## Living standards
Ondo State was rated as the state with the lowest multidimensional poverty index in Nigeria, with an estimated 1.3 million people, or 27% of the population, multidimensionally poor, less than half the national rate of 63%.[6](https://pindfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Ondo-State-LMA-Report-Designed.pdf) Food insecurity remains acute in some rural areas: a study of Irele and Okitipupa Local Government Areas documented a 93.3% household food insecurity rate, with 39.3% child stunting and 58.4% maternal overweight or obesity coexisting in the same communities.[13](https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.04.29.26352102v1.full) The state is also regarded as one of the most educationally advanced in Nigeria.[2](https://mepb.on.gov.ng/meet-us/ondo-state-profile/)
## References
1. [NEITI Facility Audit Report 2022–2023, Section 6.11 Ondo State](https://neiti.gov.ng/cms/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/NEITI-FASD-2022-2023-REPORT.pdf)
2. [Ondo State Profile, Ondo State Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget](https://mepb.on.gov.ng/meet-us/ondo-state-profile/)
3. [Ondo State 2024 Financial Statements, Office of the Accountant General](https://oag.on.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2024-FINANCIAL-STATEMENTS-LATEST.pdf)
4. [Ondo, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission](https://nipc.gov.ng/nigeria/ondo)
5. [ONDIPA Corporate Plan, Ondo State Investment Promotion Agency](https://ondostate.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ONDIPA_Corporate_Plan.pdf)
6. [Ondo State LMA Report, PIND Foundation](https://pindfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Ondo-State-LMA-Report-Designed.pdf)
7. [Executive Council, Ondo State Government](https://ondostate.gov.ng/executive)
8. [Facts and Figures about Ondo State (2010), National Bureau of Statistics](https://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/download/127)
9. [Urban renewal in Ondo State, International Journal of Civic Urbanism and Architecture](https://ijcua.com/ijcua/article/download/37/233?inline=1)
10. [Ondo Govt Signs MOUs on Deep Sea Port, $4B Petrochemical Fertiliser Plant, Ondo State Government](https://ondostate.gov.ng/news-details?id=955339)
11. [Ondo State Government 2025 Citizens Budget](https://ondobudget.org/citizen_budget/2025%20CB-%20final-amended.pdf)
12. [Ondo State, pSPI Report 2025](https://pspi.com.ng/ondo/)
13. [Assessment of Household Food Security and Nutritional Status of Mother-Child Pair in Selected LGAs in Ondo State, medRxiv](https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.04.29.26352102v1.full)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Places and geography › Administrative and cadastral territories › First-order subdivisions › Provinces of Africa*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license