[citation needed] In pre-colonial times, today's Ogun western portion which is now inhabited by the Egba and Yewa people belonged to the kingdom of Oyo, which sank into civil war mid 1800s.

South of Ogun, on the tiny island of Lagos, the British had a naval base near which the town of the same name grew rapidly.

Until the Berlin Congo Conference in 1885, Great Britain had focused on a few strategically placed bases for its merchant fleet and navy, such as Lagos and Calabar, and was not interested in the communities developing there.

After the European colonial powers had staked out their spheres of interest 1885 in Berlin (these were only valid if another power had not previously brought the area in question under its control) the United Kingdom quickly expanded thusly its territory in the assigned Niger region.

In the 1930s, Ogun was a centre of the Nigerian women's movement under the leadership of Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (Fela Kuti's mother).

The transport of food from the more agrarian Ogun to the hungry metropolis of Lagos was severely penalized (Pullen Scheme, see here).

After independence in 1960, the Yoruba region, and Ogun in particular, was engulfed in conflict between the Ọbáfẹ́mi Awólọ́wọ̀ and Samuel Ládòkè Akíntọ́lá fractions of the AG party ("Operation Wetie", see here).

In July 1966, the then ruler of Nigeria, Johnson Agulyi-Ironsi, was assassinated in Abeokuta in the second coup of the year, which was the prelude to the Biafra War.

[17] In September 2024, The Ogun State Government announced the establishment of a $5 million battery recycling plant by a British company.

The following are the mineral resources in Ogun State:[19] Ogún is also the name of the god (Orisha) for metalworking in the local Yoruba nature religion, similar to the Greek Hephaestus or the Roman god Vulcan (since the ancient world had trade relations with present-day Nigeria, this may not be entirely coincidental).

[25] The current governor is Prince Dapo Abiodun, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who heads the Executive Council of Ogun State.

[26] On Wednesday 29 May 2019, Dapo Abiodun was sworn in as the fifth Governor of the State at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Kuto, Abeokuta.

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Permanent Orientation Camp is located at Sagamu Local Government area of the state.

[39] Ogun benefits from its proximity to the metropolis of Lagos and the new deep-sea harbour and the new Dangote refinery in Lekki (as of 2024).