Kogi State is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the west by the states of Ekiti and Kwara, to the north by the Federal Capital Territory, to the northeast by Nasarawa State, to the northwest by Niger State, to the southwest by the Edo and Ondo states, to the southeast by the states of Anambra and Enugu, and to the east by Benue State. It is the only state in Nigeria to border ten other states. Named for the Hausa word for river (Kogi). Kogi State was formed from parts of Benue State, Niger State, and Kwara State on 27 August 1991. The state is nicknamed the "Confluence State" due to the fact that the confluence of the River Niger and the River Benue occurs next to its capital, Lokoja.
Okene is a town in the Nigerian state of Kogi. The town is based in a Local Government Area of the same name. Okene runs along the A2 highway. It had an area of 328 km2 and a population of 320,260 at the 2006 census.
The Ebira people are an ethnic-linguistic group of North central Nigeria. Most Ebira people are from Kogi State, Nasarawa State. Their language is usually classified as a Nupoid variety within the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo language family. Until the separation of Kogi State from Kwara State, Okene was seen as the administrative center of the Ebira-speaking people in Kogi state, located not far from the Niger-Benue confluence. Since the formation of the state, the Ebira Ta'o people are predominantly found in five local governments in Kogi state, namely Adavi, Ajaokuta, Okehi, Okene and ogorimagongo. They are also found in large numbers located in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and Nasarawa in Toto LGA. Also, the Eganyi are found in Ajaokuta LGA. And the Etuno can be found in Igarra town of Agorimagongo, Okehi and Okene each with their administrative headquarters. Ebira Koto is found in Kogi and Koton Karfe LGA, Bassa LGA, Lokoja in Kogi and Abaji LGA in the Federal Capital Territory, Akoko-Edo LGA, Edo State.
The National Theatre, Nigeria is the primary centre for the performing arts in Nigeria. The monument is located in Iganmu, Surulere, Lagos. Its construction was completed in 1976 in preparation for the Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC) in 1977.
The Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) is Nigerian state radio broadcasting organization. Its flagship station is the syndicated radio network Radio Nigeria, with FM stations across the 36 states and Zonal station in the 6 geopolitical zones that broadcast in the SW. According to FRCN, it is the largest broadcasting organization in Africa.
Mohammed Usman Edu is a Nigerian footballer. He plays for Kwara United F.C. of Ilorin.
Alhaji Adamu Atta was the first civilian governor of the Nigerian Kwara State during the Second Republic, representing the National Party of Nigeria (NPN).
Peter Onumanyi is a Nigerian mathematician. He was born in 1951 in Okene, Nigeria. A graduate of the University of Ibadan and Imperial College, London, he is a fellow and past president of the Mathematical Association of Nigeria. He has been the Head of the Mathematics department, Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, and Deputy Vice-chancellor (Academic) of the University of Jos.
On 7 August 2012, a mass shooting occurred at Deeper Life, an evangelical Christian church near Okene in Nigeria's central Kogi State. Three unidentified gunmen killed 19 people, including the church's pastor. The following day, in an apparent reprisal killing, three gunmen on motorcycles killed two soldiers and a civilian outside a mosque in Okene.
Ladipo Ayodeji Banjo, was a Nigerian educational administrator and emeritus professor of English who was the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He also served as pro-chancellor of Ajayi Crowther University.
Francis Sulemanu Idachaba, NNOM, OFR was a Nigerian professor of Agricultural Economics, chairman of the Governing Board of the Nigerian National Merit Award and vice chancellor of Kogi State University. He was the first vice chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, a position he held from 1988 to 1995.
The Okun people are a Yoruba speaking people found majorly in Kogi, but with settlements in Kwara, Ekiti, and Ondo states of Nigeria. Their dialects are generally classified in the Northeast Yoruba language (NEY) grouping. They are collectively called "Okun", which in Okun dialects could mean "Sorry", "Well-done", or as an all-encompassing greeting. Similarly, this form of greeting is also found among the Ekiti and Igbomina groups of Yoruba people. It is also a mode of greeting among the Ijesa people of southwestern Nigeria.
Pius Lasisi Jimoh was an Ebira born businessman and a Second Republic Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria representing the then Kwara South (Okene/Okehi), now Kogi Central Senatorial District from August–December 1983. He was the deputy minority leader and the youngest lawmaker ever elected to the senate at the age of 33. Jimoh was born in Ebira and started his working career with Julius Berger PLC, as a Wages Supervisor between 1974 – 1980.
Odo Ere, popularly called Ere Gajo, is the headquarters of Yagba West Local Government Area, Kogi State, Nigeria. The town is located in the old Kabba Province about 140 kilometres southeast of Ilorin. The people of Odo Ere share a common ancestry with the Yoruba people in South-West Nigeria and they are often referred to as Okun Yoruba people. The town is situated on a well-watered savannah plain consisting of dotted hills, forest and grassland. The topography earned the town the sobriquet: Ere Ọmọ Onilẹ Dun Rin, meaning "Odo Ere town with a beautiful flat terrain that enhances ease of movement".
Mabel Itohanosa Erioyunvwen Evwierhoma is a Nigerian Professor of Theatre Arts at the University of Abuja. She specializes in dramatic theory, criticism, gender studies and cultural studies. She was former Dean of the Faculty of Arts, University of Abuja, former Director, Centre for Gender Security Studies and Youth Advancement, University of Abuja and Member Governing Council, University of Abuja.
The 2023 Kogi State gubernatorial election was held on 11 November 2023 to elect the Governor of Kogi State. Incumbent APC Governor Yahaya Bello was term-limited and could not seek re-election to a third term in office. The primaries were scheduled for between 27 March and 17 April 2022.
Gbemisola Adeoti is a Nigerian academic and poet. He is a professor of literature in the English Department at Obafemi Awolowo University. He is the author of Naked Soles which was at a time recommended by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board. Between 2011 and 2015, he served as the Director of the Institute of Cultural Studies, and he was the Dean of the Faculty of Arts from 2015 to 2019 at OAU.
Duro Oni is a Nigerian professor of Theatre Arts at the University of Lagos. He is the president of the Nigerian Academy of Letters. His research interests are in the areas of theatre arts design and aesthetics, stage lighting, dramatic literature and criticism, cultural studies and the Nigerian film industry/Nollywood.
Abdulrahman Ado Ibrahim was the fourth traditional ruler and Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, a traditional state with headquarters in Okene, Kogi State, Middle Belt, Nigeria. He was a son of the second attah of Ebiraland, Ibrahim Onoruoiza, of the Omadivi clan, who reigned from 1917 to 1954.
