I just felt I should compile this for my beloved Ekiti people.

The Ekiti people are aboriginal, culturally homogeneous and highly intellectual agriculturalist Yoruboid-speaking people that forms a sub-group of the larger Yoruba ethnic group of West Africa, particularly in Nigeria and some part of Benin. Ekiti people who are well-known for their diverse and quality of traditional arts, music, poetry and witty sayings are reside predominantly in the Ekiti State in Western Nigeria. The Ekiti constitutes one of the largest Yoruba sub-group in Nigeria with the 2006 population census by the National Population Commission putting the population of Ekiti State at 2,384,212 people.
Ekiti State lies south of Kwara and Kogi State, East of Osun State and bounded by Ondo State in the East and in the south. It was declared a state on October 1, 1996 alongside five others by the military under the dictatorship of General Sani Abacha. The state, carved out of the territory of old Ondo State, covers the former twelve local government areas that made up the Ekiti Zone of old Ondo State. On creation, it took off with sixteen (16) Local Government Areas (LGAs), having had an additional four carved out of the old ones. Ekiti State is one of the thirty-six states that constitute Nigeria. The capital of Ekiti State is Ado-Ekiti.
There are not less than 120 towns in Ekiti state. One important aspect of the Ekiti towns is the common suffix "Ekiti" attached to their names eg. Ido-Ekiti, Ado-Ekiti, Oye-Ekiti.

Historically Ekiti people like the larger Yoruba are aborigine to the region, until absorbed by the invaders from the East. The term Ekiti denotes a "Mound", and is derived from the rugged mountainous feature of the country. It is an extensive province and well watered, having several tribes and clans right on to the border of the Niger, eastward. They hold themselves quite distinct from the Ijesas, especially in political affairs but have always had a strong brotherhood consciousness.

Ekiti themselves never saw each other as one nation until the Ekiti parapo(Ekiti confederacy) agreement of 1877 in order to raise a strong army against Ibadan.
The 16 foremost Ekiti Obas also went into agreements with Ijesa as Ogedengbe of Ilesa led the Ekiti parapo army

It is believed that the ancestors of Ekiti people who came to combine with the aboriginal people on the land migrated from Ile Ife, the spiritual home of the Yoruba people. According to oral and contemporary written sources of Yoruba history, Oduduwa, the ancestor of the Yoruba traveled to Ife [Ife Ooyelagbo] where he met people who were already settled there. Among the elders he met in the town were Agbonniregun,Obatala, Orelure, Obameri, Elesije, Obamirin, Obalejugbe just to mention a few. It is known that descendants of Agbonniregun [Baba Ifa] settled in Ekiti, examples being the Alara and Ajero who are sons of Ifa from the same mother. Orunmila himself spent a greater part of his life at Ado before going back to Ife to become Oba of Oketase, Ife. Due to this, we have the saying ‘Ado ni ile Ifa’ [Ado is the home of Ifa].

The early Ekiti country is divided into 16 districts (and it has been maintained to this day), each with its own Owa or King (Owa being a generic term amongst them) some of which are Owore of Otun,The Ajero of Ijero, Alara of Aramoko, Alaye of Efon-Alaye, Ewi of Ado, Elekole of Ikole, Olojudo of Ido, Oloye of Oye, Arinjale of Ise(and 7 others i dont know). these 16 Owas controlled other small towns that paid homage to them, Ewi and Owore are said to have had the largest territories.

The Ekiti are very intelligent and have a deep love of home- there has been no large scale migration of Ekiti peoples to neighbouring countries, but Ekitis are in other parts of Yorubaland mostly in Ondo, Oshun and Kwara states. Respect for age and superiors, ingrained politeness is part and parcel of their nature. Ekiti land is reputed to have produced the highest number of professors in Nigeria.It is rather by heritage than by accident that the motto of the present Ekiti state is “Fountain of Knowledge,” since Agbonniregun whose descendants are all over Ekitiland is praised as Akeke-f'inu s'ogbon [the small man with a mind full of wisdom, which could be the source of the popular "Ekiti kete" slogan
Several pioneers academics are from the state. Pioneers like Profs Adegoke Olubummo (One of the 1st Nigerian Professors in the field of Mathematics), Adeyinka Adeyemi (1st Professor of Architecture in West Africa). Others include renowned academics like Profs J.F. Ade-Ajayi, Niyi Osundare, Sam Aluko and others too many to mention


The main staple food of the people of Ekiti is pounded yam with Isapa soup or vegetable soup. NATURAL RESOURCES Ekiti land is naturally endowed with numerous natural resources. The state is potentially rich in mineral deposits. These include granite, kaolin, columbite, channockete, iron ore, baryte, aquamine, gemstone, phosphate, limestone,GOLD among others. They are largely deposited in different towns and villages of Ijero, Ekiti West, Ado - Ekiti, Ikole, Ikere, Ise-Ekiti and other Local Government Areas.The Land is also blessed with water resources, some of its major rivers are Ero, Osun, Ose, and Ogbese. More so a variety of tourist attractions abound in the state namely, Ikogosi Warm Spring, Ipole - Iloro Water Falls, Olosunta hills, Ikere, Fajuyi Memorial Park Ado - Ekiti and so on. The Ikogosi tourist centre is the most popular and the most developed. The warm spring is a unique natural feature, and supporting facilities are developed in the centre. The spring is at present being processed and packaged into bottled water for commercial purpose by a private company - UAC Nigeria
Moreover, the land is buoyant in agricultural resources with cocoa as its leading cash crop. It was largely known that Ekiti land constituted well over 40% of the cocoa products of the famous old Western Region. The land is also known for its forest resources, notably timber. Because of the favorable climatic conditions, the land enjoys luxuriant vegetation, thus, it has abundant resources of different species of timber. Food crops like yam, cassava, and also grains like rice and maize are grown in large qualities. Other notable crops like kola nut and varieties of fruits are also cultivated in commercial quantities


Ekiti Anthem
" Oun abajoro kiipe kun
Oun asepo nileye
Ehin ola wa tidara o
Awa Ekiti ati parapo
Kaparapo katun panupo
Awa Ekiti ati gbominira
Okan lawansee
Chorus: Ekiti, Ekiti ati gbominira (2ce)
Awa Ekiti iwaju laomalo lagbara Olorun
Awa Ekiti okan soso ma ni’wa o lailai."

Oriki Ekiti
omo Owa omo ekun
omo oro ninu waya agbele sebi eko, aidamo ro o yangba
omo otiriki ju Ida, ki keri ogun hun won l'ule Owa
Elila oke isa, okan din nibe eyin ra kan si, okan le nibe inse leyin pa kan je
Omo agesin re popo ukoro,
Omo ogbogan gbogan leti
Omo aroyin royin kan se po e yo run lule aran
Omo ekun peran dagba aya si,
Omo jiwajiwa ileke
Eyin lomo olulu oro kii ro loru.
Omo olupepe ka sokasoka ka mebibo sere, ka
soloko segbe ogiri lule eyigbo
Eyin lomo irafi eemi, omo agbona bi ado
Omo elewure funfun ilasa ki fun bi okin
Omo obanla ba odo, omo arabaribi akuta
Omo Aalaere gbendeke, Omo aji be gbaa ji
Udile Ekiti Omo aji mogun sano omo
opababa lesi lodo ose oko.


ADEYEMI Ekundayo Adeyinka, Prof. Distinguished Professor, 1st Professor of Architecture in West Africa
Adegoke Olubummo, Ekit man and one of the 1st Nigerian Professors in the field of Mathematics
Saraibi Ogedengbe Agbogungboro

@OP - You have tried!

Beautiful

Omo Ekiti original ni mi......proud to be an Ekitish







LongLiveIjesaIsu
LongLiveEkitiState
LongLiveNigeria

Mods plz front page......very beautiful write up

Proudly Ekiti

But they like stomach infrastructure

nice one OP

End Time Things

Wonderful.

Hmmmm.

Interesting

Ekiti kèté....ń òkún ò

Beautiful

Ekiti/Ondo
Awon alagidi

dytbabe: Ekiti/Ondo
Awon alagidi

am from Ondo, we don't take sh||t frm nobody

Nice one,my girlfriend is from there.

Ekiti Ile iyi, ile eye, proud to be Ekiti

[quote author=Keneking]But they like stomach infrastructure

God bless the most Educated state in NGERIA!
#team fountain of knowledge
#team ekiti kete.
am proud of the state.
and God bless odua NATION.

Long life IDO -Ekiti
Long life ekiti state
Long life nigeria

dytbabe: Ekiti/Ondo
Awon alagidi

And what does that have to do with the Article? Am from Ekiti and the nonsense you just wrote does not apply to me.

Erio Ekiti, my mum's birthplace. Am proud to be associated!

Facosco: Ekiti Ile iyi, ile eye, proud to be Ekiti

lemme see ma home people here(sits and sips wine, awaiting fellow Ekitans)

China-Chinese
Ekiti- Ekitans

Hin okun o ekiti kete.

Proudly ekiti boy.

@op. Please it's Oore now Owore.
Thanks.

Nice writeup btw

dytbabe: Ekiti/Ondo
Awon alagidi

..haa!!!....rara ooo

Ekiti o ni agidi ooo

Mio mo nipa Ondo sha ooo...Mo sha mo wipe Ondo ma nje aja ganni....
Awa omo Ekiti-Kwara lo sense-making ju....

Lol....shey you can read my yoruba??.....**covers face with 10 yards of ankara**

Awa omo onile.

Being an indigene is a blessing

MabraO: Na only book dem sabi for ekiti
Development is zero
In Moba(osun-ekiti)no network is working common pure water them no get. Otun ekiti is a lil better.

Lol.

am proud am from the state.......... Where peace reign and love... Ekiti a gbe a Ooooo

FrankySnow: Lol.

Pls tell us ur state and we tell you the vices everywhere can't be like london

@OP, you forgot to add, that ekitimen were the best warriors in the whole of yorubaland, majorly because of our inherent doggedness and ruggedness.. Which resulted in the adage that "Never attempt to hurt an ekiti man in any way/form, for it would be a mistake on your part to think the quarrel is over".. They rarely forget and seldom forgive..