Osogbo city. Take a tour

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=210 BGCOLOR="#9999FF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04d76ba3.gif"> <div> <IMG SRC="0d6fabc0.jpg" border=0 width="250" height="188" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Nigerian Machine Tools, Osogbo (Backbone to the nation's technological growth)</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="0de10f00.jpg" border=0 width="272" height="240" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Seen The Grove yet?</div> <div> One of the many awesome works that dot inside the Osun Grove and Courtyard</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#99CCFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04e76bc1egdyqn.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FF9933" FACE="Arial" ><B>Welcome to Osogbocity Homepage</b></font><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF9933" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B> </b></font><B>  |   </b><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Welcome to Osogbocity Homepage"><U><B>Home</b></u></a></div> <div> <B>Osogbo city. 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Take a tour</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></div> <div> <B>Osogbo: Discover the City, Discover the People</b><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B> </b></font></div> <div> <B>Explore the City... </b></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION </b></i></div> <div> <B>Osogbo is the capital of Osun State, Southwestern Nigeria. It is some 88 kilometers by road Northeast of Ibadan. It is also 100 kilometers by road South of Ilorin and 115 kilometers Northwest of </b><B>Akure. </b></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>It is situated on Latitude 9.7°N and on Longitude 4.5°E. Osogbo city seats the Headquarters of both Osogbo Local Government Area (Osogbo South) and Olorunda Local Government Area (Osogbo North). </b></i></div> <bR> <div> <B>Based on the 1991 Census (provisional result) Osogbo has a population of about  280,000 people. </b></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><B>CLIMATE </b></i></div> <div> <B>The town with an annual rainfall of about 0.6 meters lies mainly in the deciduous forest area which spreads towards the grassland belt of Ikirun, north of Osogbo. </b></div> <bR> <div> <B>Osogbo is situated on a raised land which is well over 500 meters (800 feet) above the sea-level and is drained by the Osun River and its tributaries. The climate is less humid although the effects of the harmattan winds are strongly felt in the dry season. </b></div> <bR> <div> <B>Geologically the land is made up of Precambrian rocks, the so-called basement complex from which the fairly fertile clayey loam of the surrounding district is derived. </b></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><B>MAJOR OCCUPATION OF LOCALS </b></i></div> <div> <B>Farming is the traditional and major occupation of the people of Osogbo. The locals grow various food crops including yam, maize, vegetables, fruits etc. Poultry farming and fish farming are also undertaken. They also grow some cash crops like cocoa and kolanuts. </b></div> <bR> <div> <B>Osogbo became a commercial town with the arrival of railway in 1907 which brought the colonial government of then to the threshold of the town. Osogbo is now a highly commercial town. The busiest and most commercial parts of the town are Ayetoro area, Ajegunle area and the area along and around the Station Road. The commercial activities, which are enhanced by the provision of infra-structural facilities, include trading in building materials, vehicles, cloths, plastic-wares and metal-wares etc. </b></div> <bR> <div> <B>Apart from the above-mentioned major businesses, Osogbo people are famed for their commercial activities in handmade, traditional woven cloth "Aso Oke" and Batiks, same with cloth-dyeing, embroidery, pottery, goldsmithing. In addition Osogbo people are renowned, worldwide, for their unique creations of art works of different cadre; Painting, Carving, Bead-works, Sacred artworks and even performing arts. Need to say this ever-increasing fame in contemporary African arts has shot Osogbo to a prominent spot in the world map -as far as Arts and Antiques collections is concerned. </b></div> <div> <B>Other activities of locals in this great city include; bread baking, soap making and commercial trading of different scales. </b></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><B>INDUSTRIES</b></i></div> <div> <B>Osogbo had been made an industrial center by both the Federal Government and Oyo State Government even before Osun State was created with Osogbo as the State Capital. A number of big industries have been established in Osogbo. They are the Nigeria Machine Tools, the Osogbo Steel Rolling Company and the Industrial Development Center. Others include Wire and Nails Industry, Printing Presses, Garment Industry, Sanitary Pad and allied products and a Canning factory. </b></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><B>EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS</b></i></div> <div> <B>There are many voluntary agencies and private individuals actively involved in providing qualitative elementary and post-elementary education in Osogbo. There are about a total of 30 Secondary / Post-elementary Schools in Osogbo. Among these are; Osogbo Grammar School (which is the oldest in Osun Division), Saint Charles' Grammar School and Fakunle Comprehensive High School etc. There is also a Government Technical College, a school of Nursing and Midwifery, a teaching hospital of the jointly-owned (Osun state with Oyo State) Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital. Plans are underway to found a City University to further complement the already existing higher institutions in the neighboring cities and to satisfy the ever-increasing yearning of the indigenous Osogbo people for a competitive and quality higher education. </b></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><B>HEALTH INSTITUTIONS</b></i></div> <div> <B>Apart from the State Hospital which also serve as a teaching hospital for the Osun & Oyo states jointly owned Ladoke Akintola University in Osogbo there are numerous private hospitals, clinics, dispensaries and chemists shops, prominent among them are Fasina Memorial Hospital, Oyawoye Hospital, Biket Hospital, Oroki Hospital and a handful </b><B>chains  </b><B>of certified Pharmacies  like the Boorepo Chemists, Oroki Chemists, Akinola Chemist etc. </b></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><B>KEY PUBLIC UTILITIES</b></i></div> <div> <B>Osogbo is an important Railway Station. The establishment of the Railway Station is perhaps the most important single factor in the tremendous developments of Osogbo. Apart from the railway there are postal services and telecommunication services. There are facilities for quality potable water. </b></div> <div> <B>And on the national scale plans are being worked out to ensure an uninterrupted electricity supply nationwide. </b></div> <div> <B>Osogbo city also has an Airdrome in which a long term plan is underway to transform into a full fledge commercial airport for the use of people willing to fly straight into Osogbo. </b></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><B>FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS</b></i></div> <div> <B>There are over thirty Banks of </b><B>different</b><B> banking interests and </b><B>desiginations </b><B>located in Osogbo. These also play a big role in the financial life of the city from simple individual mortgage to big real estate finance and small business initiatives. </b></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Welcome to Osogbocity Homepage"><U><B>Home </b></u></a><B>                                                </b><A HREF="id17_m.htm" TITLE="Osogbo city. Take a tour"><U><B>Back to Top</b></u></a><B>                                  </b><A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="History of Osogbo"><U><B>Next Page</b></u></a></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Osogbo city. 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