Abeokuta

Abeokuta (Yoruba for refuge among the rocks ) is a town in Nigeria. It is the state capital of Ogun. Abeokuta has 860 298 inhabitants and is the seat of one of the five leaders of the Yoruba people, called Alake.

Geography

The city is located in southwestern Nigeria, north of Lagos.

History

Abeokuta was founded in 1830 by the tribe of the Egba as a base against raids by slave hunters from Dahomey. The Egba moved increasingly into the area of Abeokuta, after they had been displaced by the armies of the Yoruba from their homes around the city of Ibadan. This self fled here from their kingdom Oyo Kingdom prior to the invasion of the Fulani warriors from the more northerly land of the Hausa.

Culture

In Abeokuta, the private Crescent University is located. The city is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Abeokuta. 1946, the women's organization Abeokuta Women's Union was founded.

A local football club is the Gateway United FC. The city was a venue of the African Cup of Women 1998. The first edition of the West African Football Championship, the WAFU Cup of Nations 2010, was held in Abeokuta.

Economy and infrastructure

The city is the center of a cocoa -growing region and is characterized by a modern mission clinic. An industrial plants Abeokuta has among other things a large brewery and a cement plant; in addition there are companies that have specialized in the dyeing of hand-woven fabrics. The city is also hub for agricultural products (palm products, cocoa ).

Sons and daughters of the town

  • Christiana Abiodun Emmanuel (1907-1994), church founder and missionary
  • Moshood Abiola (1937-1998), politician and businessman
  • Lateef Oladimeji Adegbite (1933-2012), lawyer and politician
  • Bola Ajibola ( b. 1934 ), lawyer, judge of the (1991-1994) International Court of Justice
  • Peter Akinola (1944 ), Primate of the Church of Nigeria
  • Dimeji Bankole (born 1969 ), politician
  • Carsten Haitzler ( b. 1975 ), Australian- German software developer and initiator of the Enlightenment project
  • Fela Kuti (1938-1997), saxophonist and bandleader
  • Mudashiru Lawal (1954-1991), football player
  • Alfred Adewale Martins ( born 1959 ), Archbishop of Lagos
  • Olusegun Obasanjo ( born 1937 ), President of Nigeria
  • Bekololari Ransome - Kuti (1940-2006), politician, civil rights activist and doctor
  • Funmilayo Ransome - Kuti (1900-1978), politician, teacher and women's rights activist
  • Wole Soyinka ( b. 1934 ), writer and Nobel
  • Amos Tutuola (1920-1997), writer
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