Description of Ondo State 

The southwest corner of Nigeria is home to Ondo State. On February 3, 1976, it was formed from what had been Western State. The state of Ondo is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the south, the states of Ogun to the southwest, Osun to the northwest, and the states of Ekiti to the north, Kogi to the northeast, Edo to the east, Delta to the southeast, and Ogun to the southwest. Akure, once the seat of the Akure Kingdom, now serves as the state capital. Mangrove swamps can be found in Ondo State, not far from the Bights of Benin.

Ondo State, sometimes known as the "Sunshine State," has the nation's 19th highest population and the country's 25th largest land area.

The Yoruba people make up the majority in the state, and their language is widely spoken. In this state, the petroleum industry is the backbone of the economy. The state's economy also includes cocoa farming, asphalt mining, and tourism along its lengthy coastline. The Idanre inselberg hills, located there, are the western half of Nigeria's highest point at over 1,000 meters in altitude.

In 1976, the province of Ondo within the erstwhile Western State was split off to become the new state of Ondo. The states of Kwara and Kogi to the north, Edo to the east, Delta to the southeast, Osun and Ogun to the west, and the Bight of Benin to the south form its land and water boundaries. Wooded savanna covers the moderate slopes of the Yoruba Hills in the north, while mangrove-swamp forest covers the coast along the Bight of Benin.

Abeokuta, city, state capital of Ogun Located on the eastern side of the Ogun River, the area is known for its cluster of rocky outcroppings that provide a visual break from the surrounding forested savanna. It is 48 miles (78 km) south of Lagos and on the main railway (1899), as well as the ancient trunk road from Lagos to Ibadan. It also has road connections to Ilaro, Shagamu, Iseyin, and Kétou (Benin).

Abeokuta (which literally translates to "Refuge Among Rocks") was established in 1830 by Sodeke (Shodeke), a hunter and leader of the Egba refugees who had left the crumbling Oyo empire. In addition to the missionaries who arrived in the 1840s, the town was also populated by Creoles from Sierra Leone who went on to become important in the area as ministers and businesspeople. Wars with Dahomey erupted because of Abeokuta's prominence as the Egba capital and a hub for the Lagos-Ibadan oil-palm trade (now Benin). The Egba, backed by missionaries and armed by the British, defeated King Gezo of the Dahomeyan army at the Battle of Abeokuta in 1851. (unique in the history of western Africa for its common practice of using women warriors). In 1864, the inhabitants of Dahomey successfully repelled another onslaught.

Economy

The majority of the state's income comes from agriculture, with the northern section producing cotton and tobacco, the center part producing cacao, the southern and eastern parts producing rubber and timber (teak and hardwoods), and the rest of the state producing palm oil and kernels for export. The state of Ondo is the most important cocoa-growing region in Nigeria.

Modern Abeokuta is an important agricultural hub, serving as an export hub for commodities such as cocoa, palm produce, fruits, and kola nuts in addition to rice, yams, cassava, corn [maize], palm oil and kernels, cotton, fruits, vegetables, shea butter, and rubber. After the town's cotton was introduced by missionaries in the 1850s, weaving and dyeing became popular local pastimes. Abeokuta is the headquarters for the federal Ogun-Oshun River Basin Development Authority with projects to harness land and water resources for Lagos, Ogun, Osun, and Oyo states for rural development. Among these are initiatives involving irrigation, food processing, and electricity. Local industry is small but increasingly includes fruit-canning operations, a plastics factory, and sawmills. The nearby Aro granite quarries are an important source of construction materials for much of southern Nigeria, and the Ewekoro cement plant is a massive, state-of-the-art facility.

Yoruba, an ethnic group with a long history of urbanization, make up the largest ethnic group in the state. Akure, the state capital, has a federal university of technology and is fast becoming a commercial and industrial hub. The Ikogosi hot spring and the old Idanre Hills are locations of attraction. The state's primary roadway connects Benin City and Lagos, and it passes through the state's southern region. Completely covering a size of 5,639 square miles (14,606 square km)

Agriculture

Agriculture is the main business of Ondo state, and the chief products are cotton and tobacco from the north. Cocoa from the central part, and rubber and timber (teak and hardwoods) from the south and east; palm oil and kernels are cultivated for export throughout the state. Ondo state is the  Nigeria’s chief cocoa-producing state. Other crops in Ondo state include ; rice, yams, corn (maize), coffee, taro, cassava (manioc), vegetables, and fruits. Local factories in Ondo state  include pottery making, cloth weaving, tailoring, carpentry, and blacksmithing. Mineral deposits  in Ondo state include kaolin, pyrites, iron ore, petroleum, and coal. There is a textile mill located at Ado-Ekiti and a palm-oil processing plant at Okitipupa in Ondo state.griculture alongside fishing make up the main business of the people of Ondo state. Indeed, Ondo state is the leading cocoa manufacturing state in Nigeria. Other agricultural products in Ondo state  include; yams, cassava and palm produce.