Porous silica was synthesized via the sol-gel process using clay obtained locally from Ijero-Ekiti in Ekiti State, Nigeria and compared with silica synthesized under similar conditions from sodium metasilicate (Na 2 SiO 3 ) obtained comercially. The clay was initially refluxed with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) for 2 hours to extract SiO 2 to form Na 2 SiO 3 , which was subsequently hydrolyzed to form a gel. The gel obtained was washed with deionized water to get rid of impurities, dried and calcined at 800˚C for 3 hours. The obtained silica powders were characterized using atomic absorption spectrophotometer, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results showed that the vibrational modes and diffraction patterns of the silica derived from commercial Na 2 SiO 3 and that prepared from clay were similar containing pure amorphous SiO 2 . The morphology of the commercially obtained silica showed better arrangement of particles and exhibited slightly lesser porosity (62.4%) compared to that derived from clay which had a porosity of 65.5%. The result indicates that clay has a potential for use as an environmentally safe and economic starting material for preparing porous silica instead of high quality precursors.