Ilorin

Ilorin is the capital city of Kwara State located in the Western region of Nigeria.[2] As of the 2006 census, it had a population of 777,667, making it the 7th largest city by population in Nigeria.[3] Ilorin was founded by the Yoruba, one of the three largest ethnic groups in Nigeria, in 1450.[4] It became a provincial military headquarters of the ancient Oyo Empire, and later became a Northern Nigeria protectorate when Shehu Alimi, an itinerant Islamic preacher and teacher, took control of the city through the spread of Islam. The capital was occupied by the Royal Niger Company in 1897 and its lands were incorporated into the British colony of Northern Nigeria in 1900, although the emirate continued to perform ceremonial functions.[5] The city retains a strong Islamic influence, although Christianity is now widely practised in the cosmopolitan part of the city due to the significant immigration of people from other parts of Kwara State and the rest of Nigeria.[6]