This study attempts to determine the degree of polarization or spread of development in Ondo State, Nigeria, and arrive at a development value index with which to rank and categorize the state’s 26 local government areas (LGA). The parameters used relate to educational and health facilities, postal and banking services, the provision of electricity and water, roads, and the presence of cooperatives and community development associations. The analysis indicates that the catalysts of development at the aggregate level in Ondo State are not localized but are fairly evenly distributed. However, some degree of variation in the distribution pattern is noticeable when the parameters are disaggregated. The most highly localized activities are those in the health sector. When the per capita distribution of facilities is considered on an intra-LGA basis, greater disparity can be observed, even among the highest-ranked LGAs. On the overall development pattern, the least developed LGAs are confined to the extreme north and south of the state. The average and more developed LGAs are contiguous and concentrated in the central part of the state, the main area of cocoa production, which also contains almost all of the state’s largest settlements, Akure, Ondo, Owo, Ado-Ekiti and Ikere. App., bibliogr.
