ONDO STATE PEOPLE AND DEVELOPMENT

Ethnic Composition, Languages, Culture and the Arts: The people of the state are mostly of the Yoruba race, although other Nigerians and foreign nationals coexist peacefully in the state. The most known ethnic subgroups are the Akure, the Akoko, the Ikale, the Ilaje, the ljaw or Izon (made up of Apoi and Arogbo. Note: some Apoi are Yoruba), the Ondo and the Owo. See AKURE MAP.

Oba Adesida Road, Akure	Agbabu: Bitumen Deposit
Akure is the Capital City of Ondo State	Ondo State's bitumen is the world second largest

Generally, the people have similar customs, traditions and language although there are some variations, most observable with the ljo. In the field of arts and culture, Ondo state is among the richest in the federation in the variety and quality of its traditional sculpture.

The people are lovers of arts, music (e.g. Obitun dancers), proverbs, witty sayings and poetry. The ivory carvings, bronze works and wood carvings from Owo are basically Yoruba sculptures; excavated at Egberen Street in the town in 1971, they showed the naturalness out of the classical lfe (Ministry of Information & Culture, 1976).

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Population Structure and Distribution: Although the detailed analyses of the 1991 census are yet to be done, information already provided indicates that Ondo State has a total of 2,255,728 persons made up of 1,134,703 males and 1,121,025 females. Street estimates currently place the population at over 3million due to increased commercial activities which have encouraged Lagos-Akure, PortHarcourt-Akure, Abuja-Akure migration (see next paragraph).

The structure and distribution of population in Ondo State have been affected by high incidence of migration of Ondo people to other parts of the country. Ondo indigenes are found in various services and especially in education and civil service. Some are traders in many large cities of the federation, while in recent times, many industrialists have established plants in cities in Ondo State and other parts of the country.

It is also pertinent to observe that Ondo State harbours many migrant farmers from all the southwestern states and from Kwara, Kogi and Benue states. Most of these migrant farmers cultivate cocoa, while some serve as farm labourers (e.g., the agatus are mostly from Igarra in the Middle Belt).

Urban Development: Like in other Yoruba areas, the people of Ondo State live mainly in urban centres. Most of these urban centres are compact settlements each with a population of over 30,000 inhabitants. During the years of military administration, there were consistent effort to encourage urbanization through the creation of more states and local government areas.

Other factors aiding urban development are the establishment of tertiary institutions such as Colleges of Education, Technical Colleges, Polytechnics and Universities, industrial plants such as glass factory and services whether financial or commercial. Some of the notable settlements are Akure (the Capital City), Ondo, Owo, lkare, Okitipupa, Idanre, lle-Oluji and Ore.

Rural Development: Ondo State is primarily an agricultural state and therefore has many rural centres. Prior to 1985, there had been a conspicuous neglect of the rural areas of the State. However, since 1985, Ondo State has been a beneficiary of concerted programmes to revitalise, develop and transform rural areas.

The most important programmes in this regard were those implemented by DFRRI, Better Life Programme and the NDE, including the latter's Self Help Programme. The role of PTF in rural development between 1994 and 1999 must also be noted. Not only did DFRRI (see next paragraph) open up many rural areas in the State by constructing feeder roads (more than 1,230km in length) (Ministry of Information & Culture, 1992), it contributed immensely to the overall development and well being of rural dwellers by sinking deep wells and boreholes in many villages and suburban areas. Today, the new Accelerated Poverty Alleviation Agency APAA of the present administration promises to tackle headlong the issue of abject poverty in the land.

In addition, DFRRI assisted communities in the electrification of their areas. In terms of economic development, DFRRI encouraged the rural dwellers to establish their own banks through the setting up Community Banks. Some of the banks are still found in many LGAs with many of the rural dwellers as shareholders.

The Better Life Programme (known then as gbebiro. Note that the last administration ran a programme known as the Sunshine Foundation but as a personal package of the then wife of the state governor. The wife of the incumbent governor, Mrs. Olufunke Agagu is also doing a lot for the people via her pet project, the HANDEF (Handicapped Education Foundation). For information on Handef, visit www.handef.org or click on any of  the pictures below.

Handef is to compliment government effort in catering for the needy especially the handicapped and physically challenged individuals) focused on rural women, and these women actively involve in processing local food and fibre items such as cassava (gari), maize, rice and sisal hemp for better prices. Several years after the programme ended, most of the LGAs of Ondo State still have one form of Better Life Programme or the other, e.g. oil palm processing in Irele still in existence. The NDE programme has helped in making available on the job training to young school leavers (both secondary and tertiary) in modern farming, trades and industry.

The programme has also helped to open up the rural areas in all parts of the state. It is noteworthy to observe that the present civilian administration in the State has rural development and rural integration as a major focus of its policies and has therefore created a ministry for the purpose.

Problem of Urban Primacy: Akure, the state capital, has expanded over a large area (SEE PICTURE), as a result of many developmental processes. Hence, it has now grown to be a primate city which continues to attract people from the rural areas and smaller towns. This primacy has led to some problems. For example, the traditional area of Akure, now the attraction of low income earners and the unemployed, has deteriorated into slums, while in the central part or heart of the town, traffic holdup is a common phenomenon. The government of Dr. Olusegun Agagu is presently working out a programme that will ensure the outer ring road of Akure is constructed to ease congestion and give the state capital a befitting modern outlook. Already, public drainage channels have been cleared of debris, Ala and Elegbin rivers in Akure channelized, while the Waste Management Authority has been restructured to cope with the challenges of modern development.

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