Ibadan is located in southwestern Nigeria in the southeastern part of Oyo State about 120 km east of the border with the Republic of Benin in the forest zone close to the boundary between the forest and the savanna. The city ranges in elevation from 150 m in the valley area, to 275 m above sea level on the major north-south ridge which crosses the central part of the city. The city’s total area is 1,190 sq mi (3,080 km2).
The city is naturally drained by four rivers with many tributaries: Ona River in the North and West; Ogbere River towards the East; Ogunpa River flowing through the city and Kudeti River in the Central part of the metropolis. Ogunpa River, a third-order stream with a channel length of 12.76 km and a catchment area of 54.92 km2.
Climate
Ibadan has a tropical wet and dry climate (Köppen climate classification Aw), with a lengthy wet season and relatively constant temperatures throughout the course of the year. Ibadan’s wet season runs from March through October, though August sees somewhat of a lull in precipitation. This lull nearly divides the wet season into two different wet seasons. November to February forms the city’s dry season, during which Ibadan experiences the typical West African harmattan. The mean total rainfall for Ibadan is 1420.06 mm, falling in approximately 109 days. There are two peaks for rainfall, June and September. The mean maximum temperature is 26.46 C, minimum 21.42 C and the relative humidity is 74.55%.
[hide]Climate data for Ibadan
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 37
(99) 39
(102) 38
(100) 38
(100) 35
(95) 33
(91) 31
(88) 31
(88) 36
(97) 33
(91) 34
(93) 35
(95) 39
(102)
Average high °C (°F) 33
(91) 34
(93) 34
(93) 33
(91) 32
(90) 29
(84) 28
(82) 27
(81) 29
(84) 30
(86) 32
(90) 33
(91) 31
(88)
Average low °C (°F) 21
(70) 22
(72) 23
(73) 23
(73) 22
(72) 22
(72) 21
(70) 21
(70) 22
(72) 22
(72) 22
(72) 21
(70) 22
(72)
Record low °C (°F) 10
(50) 12
(54) 18
(64) 18
(64) 18
(64) 18
(64) 16
(61) 16
(61) 17
(63) 18
(64) 14
(57) 14
(57) 10
(50)
Rainfall mm (inches) 8
(0.31) 23
(0.91) 76
(2.99) 125
(4.92) 145
(5.71) 163
(6.42) 132
(5.2) 74
(2.91) 170
(6.69) 152
(5.98) 43
(1.69) 10
(0.39) 1,121
(44.13)
% humidity
76 71 75 78 82 86 88 88 86 84 80 76 81
Avg. precipitation days 1 2 5 9 11 12 12 10 15 12 4 1 94
Mean monthly sunshine hours 170 198 170 170 170 141 85 57 85 141 198 198 1,783
Source: BBC Weather[5]
Administration
There are eleven (11) Local Governments in Ibadan Metropolitan area consisting of five urban local governments in the city and six semi-urban local governments in the less city. Local governments at present are institutions created by the military governments but recognised by the 1999 constitution and they are the third tiers of government in Nigeria. Local governments Councils consist of the Executive Arm made up of the Executive Chairman, the vice chairman, the secretary and the supervisory councilors.[6]
Local government areas
Ibadan Urban
1. Ibadan North
2. Ibadan North-East
3. Ibadan North-West
4. Ibadan South-East
5. Ibadan South-West
Ibadan Semi-Urban
6. Akinyele
7. Egbeda
8. Ido
9. Lagelu
10. Ona Ara
11. Oluyole
Demography
Population
Until 1970, Ibadan was the largest city in sub-Saharan Africa.[2] In 1952, it was estimated that the total area of the city was approximately 103.8 km2[7] However, only 36.2 km2 was built up. This meant that the remaining 67 km2 were devoted to non-urban uses, such as farmlands, river floodplains, forest reserves and water bodies. These “non-urban land uses” disappeared in the 1960s: an aerial photograph in 1973 revealed that the urban land-scape had completely spread over about 100 km2. The land area increased from 136 km2 in 1981 to 210–240 km2 in 1988-89 (Areola, 1994: 101). By the year 2000, it is estimated that Ibadan covered 400 km2.[8] The growth of the built-up area during the second half of the 20th century (from 40 km2 in the 1950s to 250 km2 in the 1990s) shows clearly that there has been an underestimation of the total growth of the city. In the 1980s, the Ibadan-Lagos expressway generated the greatest urban sprawl (east and north of the city), followed by the Eleiyele expressway (west of the city). Since then, Ibadan city has spread further into the neighbouring local government areas of Akinyele and Egbeda in particular.
Cityscape
A panorama of the city taken from Mapo Hill.
Monuments, landmarks and other locations
There is a museum in the building of the Institute of African Studies, which exhibits several remarkable pre-historic bronze carvings and statues. The city has several well stocked libraries, and is home to the first television station in Africa. Dugbe Market is the nerve centre of Ibadan’s transport and trading network. The best method to move about the city is to use reference points and notable landmarks. The city also has a zoo located inside the University of Ibadan, and a botanical garden located at Agodi.
The Bower Memorial Tower[9] to the east on Oke Aàre (Aare’s Hill) (“Aare” in Yoruba means commander-in-chief or generalissimo), which can be seen from practically any point in the city; it also provides an excellent view of the whole city from the top. Another prominent landmark, Cocoa House,[10] was the first skyscraper in Africa. It is one of the few skyscrapers in the city and is at the hub of Ibadan’s commercial centre. Other attractions include Mapo Hall[11] – the colonial style city hall – perched on top of a hill, “Oke Mapo,” Mapo Hill (“oke” is hill in Yoruba), the Trans-Wonderland amusement park, the cultural centre Mokola and the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, a major stadium. The first citadel of higher learning, University of Ibadan (formerly the University College of Ibadan), the Obafemi Awolowo Hall in the university of Ibadan is said to be the tallest and largest hostel in west Africa. The first teaching hospital in Nigeria, University College Hospital, UCH, were both built in this ancient but, highly important city. Ibadan is also home to the legendary Shooting Stars FC – a professional Football Club. There are some good golf courses: the Ibadan Golf Club is a large 18-hole challenge and the Barracks course has just been extended to 18 holes. The most challenging and exclusive is the IITA Golf Club based on the 1,000 hectare premises of IITA.
