Ibarapa Central Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria
Ibarapa Central Local Government with headquater at Igboora, Oyo State was carved out of the then Ifeloju Local Government on 4th December, 1996 by the then head of state and commander in chief of armed forces, Late General Sani Abacha.
At the release of the Federal Government Gazette of May, 1997 the Local Government was re-named Ibarapa Central Local Government.
The young and promising Local Government was bounded in the East by Ibarapa East Local Government, in the West and North by Ibarapa North Local Government and in the South by Ogun State.
According to the NPC Year 2006 provisional census figure the population size of the Local Government is about 116,809 (One Hundred And Sixteen Thousand, Eight Hundred And Nine )with a land mass of 440km2. Ibarapa Central Local Government comprises of two major towns that is Igboora and Idere with headquarters in Igboora. Igboora is UNICEF accredited nations no. 1 “Home of Twins”.
The Local Government is politically divided into ten wards, namely: ⦁ Ward 1 – Molete and Idere Villages ⦁ Ward 2 – Onigbio and Oke-Oba in Idere ⦁ Ward 3 – Apa and Koso in Idere (iv) Ward 4 – Iberekodo I and Villages (v) Ward 5 – Iberekodo II and Villages (vi) Ward 6 – Idofin and Sagan-un Villages (vii) Ward 7 – Pako and Villages (viii) Ward 8 – Isale-Oba and Villages (ix) Ward 9 – Oke-Iserin and Villages (x) Ward 10 – Oke-Oodo and Villages
The People of the Local Government are Yorubas who speak the real Yoruba dialect. But other ethnic groups could be found trading in one trade or the other. They are Hausas, Fulanis, Igbos, Togolese, Ghanaians, Sabes etc.
The Local Government has multi-religious learning with Muslims and Christians in the majority. A sizeable proportion of traditional religion does exist amicably alongside others without losing the cultural supremacy of the land.
The largest population of the Local Government concentrated on agriculture due to abundant fertile farmlands. Yam tubers, cassava, mangoes, cashew, palm kernel, corn millet, melon, Tomatoes, Okra, Cocoa are some of the major crops available in large quantities for local consumption and even for export because Ibarapa division is given the appellation of food basket of Oyo State, which makes it unique among the Local Government of the Federation.
The people of Ibarapa Central Government are also noted for historical traditional works such as art and craft, traditional cloth dyeing, cloth weaving, blacksmithing, hunting, soap making etc. The council is blessed with major markets among whom are Towobowo, Oba Market, Onilado, Ayeda, Ita-Agbe. Towobowo markets which is one of the best among others in Ibarapa Division as a trade centre for other state like Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Edo, etc.
