Kwara

Kwara State was created on 27th May, 1967. it is a State in North Central Nigeria. It is bordered to the East by Kogi State, to the north by Niger State, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo States, while its North Western border makes up part of the international border, in Baruten Local Government Area, with Benin Republic.

Its capital is the city of Ilorin. Kwara State consists of three (3) Senatorial Districts of Kwara Central, Kwara North and Kwara South. In the same vein, the State has sixteen (16) Local Government Areas, including: Asa, Baruten, Edu, Ekiti, Ifelodun, Ilorin East, Ilorin South, Ilorin West, Irepodun, Isin, Kaiama, Moro, Offa, Oke Ero, Oyun and Patigi; and 193 wards.

Of the 36 states of Nigeria, Kwara is the ninth largest in area with 36,825km2, but the fifth least populous, with an estimated population of about 3.2 million as at 2016 (according to NBS).

Geographically, Kwara State is split between the West Sudanian savanna in the west, and the Guinean forest–savanna mosaic eco-region in the rest of the State. Important geographic features of the State include rivers, with the Niger flowing along the northern border into Lake Jebba, before continuing as the border, while the Awun, Asa, Aluko, and Oyun rivers flow through the interior. In the far northwest of the state is the Borgu section of the Kainji National Park, a large national park that contains populations of grey heron, kob, hippopotamus, African bush elephant, olive baboon, and roan antelope, along with some of the last remaining West African lions on Earth. Residents of the state are sometimes referred to as Kwarans.

Kwara State has been inhabited for years by various ethnic groups, primarily the majority Yoruba people that live throughout the State, but there are sizeable minorities of Nupe people in the northeast, Bariba (Baatonu) and Busa (Bokobaru) peoples in the west, and a small Fulani population in Ilorin, moving through the State as nomadic herders.

Economically, Kwara State is largely based around agriculture, mainly of coffee, cotton, groundnut, cocoa, oil palm, and kola nut crops. Other key industries are services, especially in the city of Ilorin, and the livestock herding and ranching of cattle, goats, and sheep. Kwara State has the joint-twentieth highest Human Development Index in the country and numerous institutions of tertiary education. The economy of the State (both formal and informal sector) can be viewed in terms of its resources availability or endowment, commercial and industrial activities, agricultural practices and vocational practices, all of which are major determinants and as well play a major role in terms of inflow and outflow of resources in the State. Also, the State has a largely informal economy arising from a few industrial bases. However, the State Government has continued to work hard to improve the fortunes of the State in the area of industrialization.