Ikole
LGA and town in Ekiti State, Nigeria
Ikole is a local government area in Ekiti State, Southwest Nigeria. It's occupied mainly by the Yoruba tribe and Yoruba is the major language spoken there.
Understand
Ikole Ekiti is a relatively large town in Ekiti State. The Oba of the land is referred to as the Elekole of Ikole Ekiti. There are various towns within the walls of the land which are being headed by kings too. We have Asin-Ekiti, Usin-Ekiti, Ootunja- Ekiti, Ikoyi amidst others. The Elekole supercedes and heads all the other kings in the land.
The town is mainly dominated by christians. Muslims, and traditional worshippers are also present in the land. There is usually a season of the year (around August) when they practice their masquerade festival. This is majorly carried out by youths of the land.
The town is relatively very secure as well.
Get in
You can get in via bus from any part of Ekiti State. You can enter Ekiti from most Southwest states in Nigeria like Lagos, Ibadan or Ondo, then from there you can take a bus to Ikole LGA.
Taxis, which are usually referred to as "Akoto", are the major means of transport within the town.
Get around
See
Do
Buy
Like most places in Nigeria, you would need to buy most of your goods from local stores which can be found on every corner of each street in the town.
- Decency Multibiz Global Ventures, ☏ +234 814 561 0674. 24 hours. (updated Dec 2021)
- Mummy Toyin Ventures, Overcomers Hostel, Road Ikole, ☏ +234 706 085 7575. M-Sa 7AM-9PM. (updated Dec 2021)
- Ikole Main Market. (updated Dec 2021)
- Daily Market Shops. (updated Dec 2021)
- Odo Oro Market. (updated Dec 2021)
- Dixoret Ventures, Ifaki - Oye - Ikole Rd, Oye, ☏ +234 703 424 0678. M-Sa 7AM-10PM. (updated Dec 2021)
- Ejiwumi Stores. (updated Dec 2021)
- Jalmat Store, Ifaki - Oye - Ikole Rd, ☏ +234 806 318 5416. M-Sa 8AM-6PM. (updated Dec 2021)
- Oluwaseun Supermarket. (updated Dec 2021)
Eat
You can get foods from local restaurants and hotels in this town. The major food in this town is pounded yam (Yoruba: Iyan). You really should try it out
- Paramount bar and restaurant, local government, Asin Rd, Ikole, ☏ +234 803 491 5409. (updated Dec 2021)
- Afrifoods Cottage, Iwakun Street, Besides General Post Office (Elekole's Palace, Ikole, ☏ +234 905 266 9292. M-Sa 7AM-8PM. (updated Dec 2021)
- Divine Chef. (updated Dec 2021)
- Onisuru Mega spot, 21 Okederu Asin-Ekiti Ikole, ☏ +234 806 449 8771. M-Sa 8AM-9PM. (updated Dec 2021)
- YummyCraving, House 12b, Ikole, ☏ +234 813 995 4238. 24 hours. (updated Dec 2021)
- Simply Hott, ☏ +234 903 640 4816. (updated Dec 2021)
- Awesome Restaurant, ☏ +234 813 344 5738. (updated Dec 2021)
- Chiller's Bar & Restaurant, ☏ +234 902 130 6418. 24 hours. (updated Dec 2021)
- Restaurant Foods & Drinks. (updated Dec 2021)
- Marvelous Restaurant. (updated Dec 2021)
Drink
- Empire Pub, Temidire/Ara road, irode area Ikole. 24 hours. (updated Dec 2021)
- Downtown Exclusive Bar Ikole. (updated Dec 2021)
- Paramount bar and restaurant, local government, Asin Rd, Ikole. M-Sa 9AM-10PM. (updated Dec 2021)
- Adamson Cool Spot, ☏ +234 816 000 5103. M-Sa 8AM-10PM. (updated Dec 2021)
- Lounge De'Alva, ☏ +234 703 239 8512. 24 hours. (updated Dec 2021)
- YOLO Lounge, ☏ +234 803 515 9054. M-Sa 2PM-2AM. (updated Dec 2021)
- Upwings lounge and bar, ☏ +234 814 893 1804. 24 hours. (updated Dec 2021)
- Lampese bar. (updated Dec 2021)
Sleep
Most of the hotels in this town are low budget hotels and you shouldn't really expect much from them.
- S.M.J Hotel, College Road, Ikole, ☏ +234 816 072 2762. (updated Dec 2021)
- Ore-Ofe Guest House, ☏ +234 915 540 2954. (updated Dec 2021)
- Ibisco Guest House, Ibisco Junction, Opposite General Hospital Beside NNPC Mega Station, Ikole. (updated Dec 2021)
- Grosso Hotel, Omotayo street, off oba Adetunle Adeleye road, new Iloka, Ikole. (updated Dec 2021)
- Ayedogbon Guesthouse, Along Ikole Road. (updated Dec 2021)
- Mayegun Royal Hotel, ☏ +234 904 735 9503. (updated Dec 2021)
- Ramat Guest Lodge. (updated Dec 2021)
Connect
Most locations in Ikole have 2G/3G mobile network coverage. Service may be disrupted the farther away you go from the city center, and you might occasionally experience network outage for all or some of the mobile phone service providers in those remote areas of the city. Different networks tend to be more stable and reliable in different locations of the city at different times.
If you are planning a visit to this city, you should probably consider having multiple SIM cards, preferably for all the mobile service providers, since you can't tell which will be more stable and reliable at a time in your location during your visit. And if you will risk not having any of them, you might be better off not risking the MTN network, because, from indications, it seems to perform well than the others, though its rates may be high and its offers and services might be stringent, but you are less likely to be concerned of erratic voice and data connection compared to others.
Airtel is another service provider which is fairly satisfactory for all you might need to connect to the world, including rates and network stability. Of course, Glo (or Globacom) boasts of fast network speed for internet browsing activities, but that might not be enjoyable in some locations in Ikole. And 9Mobile usually also performs well in internet browsing speed but not without locational limitations.