Yobe is a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

located in northeastern

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. A mainly

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

state, it was created on 27 August 1991. Yobe State was carved out of

Borno State Borno State is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Yobe to the west, Gombe to the southwest, and Adamawa to the south while its eastern border forms part of the national border with Cameroon, its northern borde ...

. The capital of Yobe State is Damaturu; and it's largest and most populated city is Potiskum.

Geography

The state borders four states:

Bauchi Bauchi (earlier Yakoba) is a city in northeast Nigeria, the Administrative center of Bauchi State, of the Bauchi Local Government Area within that State, and of the traditional Bauchi Emirate. It is located on the northern edge of the Jos Plate ...

, Borno, Gombe, and

Jigawa Jigawa State (Hausa: ''Jihar Jigawa'' (Fula Leydi Jigawa 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤮𞤤 𞤶𞤭𞤺𞤢𞤱𞤢) is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the northern region of the country. Created in 1991 from the northeastern-most region of Kan ...

.Yobe State shares borders with Borno State to the east, Gombe State to the south, Bauchi and Jigawa States to the west and Niger Republic to the north. It borders to the north the Diffa and Zinder Regions of

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagessavanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground ...

belt, conditions are hot and dry for most of the year, except in the southern part of the state which has more annual rainfall. Tulutulu_in_yobe_state_Nigeria

History

Yobe State came into being on 27

August August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named '' Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month i ...

1991. It was carved out of the old Borno State by the Babangida administration. Yobe State was created because the old Borno State was one of Nigeria's largest states in terms of land area and was therefore considered to be too large for easy administration and meaningful development.

Ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established fo ...

rivalries within the old Borno State also contributed to the decision.

Climate

The climate condition of Yobe is warm with daily temperature of . November being the sunniest month and rainy day is between August and December

Boko Haram

On 14 May 2013,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Goodluck Jonathan Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957)Lawson Heyford, ''The Source'' (Lagos), 11 December 2006. is a Nigerian politician who served as the President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to fo ...

declared a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

in Yobe State along with nearby Borno and

Adamawa State Adamawa state () is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Borno to the northwest, Gombe to the west, and Taraba to the southwest, while its eastern border forms part of the national border with Cameroon. It tak ...

s, due to the

jihadist Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

network

Boko Haram Boko Haram, officially known as ''Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād'' ( ar, جماعة أهل السنة للدعوة والجهاد, lit=Group of the People of Sunnah for Dawah and Jihad), is an Islamic terrorist organization ...

insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irr ...

. Boko Haram's leader

Abubakar Shekau Abu Mohammed Abubakar al-Sheikawi (also known by the alias ''Darul Akeem wa Zamunda Tawheed'', or ''Darul Tawheed''; "the abode of monotheism"; born 1965, 1969 or 1975 – 19 May 2021) was a Kanuri man known as the leader of Boko Haram, a Nigeri ...

was born in Shekau village of Yobe. Boko Haram's attacks in Yobe include those in Damaturu in November 2011, December 2011 and June 2012,

Gadaka Gadaka is a town in Yobe State, Nigeria located at latitude 11°18′N and longitude 11°22′E, with a population of about 60,000 people. It is located in the southern part of the state, near the boundary with Gombe and Bauchi states. It used ...

in December 2011, Potiskum in December 2012, November 2014 and July 2015, Mamudo in July 2013,

Gujba Gujba is a town and Local Government Area in Yobe State, Nigeria. Its headquarter is situated in Buni Yadi at towards the south of the area; the eponymous town of Gujba lies in the north of the area. It has an area of and a population of 130,0 ...

in September 2013,

Buni Yadi Buni ( ur, ; also spelled Booni) is a town and the headquarters of Upper Chitral District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Demography The residents of Buni are Khos, and they speak Khowar which is spoken and understood throughout Chitral valley. ...

in February and May 2014 and Dapchi in 2018.

Local Government Areas

Yobe State consists of 17

local government areas A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory. The phra ...

(or LGAs). They are: * Bade *

Bursari Bursari is a Local Government Area in Yobe State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Dapchi in the far south of the area at. It has an area of 3,818 km and a population of 109,124 at the 2006 census. The postal code of the area is ...

* Damaturu * Geidam *

Gulani Gulani is a Local Government Area in Yobe State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Bara. It has an area of 2,090 km and a population of 103,510 at the 2006 census. The postal code of the area is 621. See also * List of Local G ...

* Fika *

Fune Fune is a Local Government Area in Yobe State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Damagum in the southwest of the area on the A3 highway at. It has an area of 4,948 km and a population of 300,760 at the 2006 census. The postal cod ...

Jakusko Jakusko is a Local Government Area in Yobe State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Jakusko in the west of the area at. It has an area of 3,941 km and a population of 229,083 at the 2006 census. The postal code of the area is 631. ...

* Karasuwa * Machina *

Nangere Nangere is a Local Government Area in Yobe State, Nigeria. It has its headquarters in the town of Sabon Gari Nanger (or Sabon Garin) at. Geography of Nangere Nangere LGA occupies a total area of 980 square kilometres and has an average tempera ...

* Nguru * Potiskum *

Tarmuwa Tarmuwa is a Local Government Area in Yobe State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the town of Babangida at. It has an area of 4,594 km and a population of 177,204 at the 2006 census. The postal code of the area is 620. Tarmuwa Town is und ...

Yunusari Yunusari is a Local Government Area in Yobe State, Nigeria. It has its headquarters in the town of Kanamma (or Kanama) in the north-east of the area on the Burun Gana River at . It shares a border in the north with The Republic of Niger. Land ...

* Yusufari

Economy

While Yobe state is an agricultural state, it also has rich mineral deposits, including

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywa ...

and

kaolin Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedra ...

local government and very rich agricultural resources as well. The State's agricultural produce include

gum arabic Gum arabic, also known as gum sudani, acacia gum, Arabic gum, gum acacia, acacia, Senegal gum, Indian gum, and by other names, is a natural gum originally consisting of the hardened sap of two species of the ''Acacia'' tree, '' Senegalia se ...

, groundnuts, beans, and

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

. The State also has one of the largest

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...

markets Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, an ...

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali ...

, located in Potiskum.

Governor

On 29 May 2019,

Mai Mala Buni Mai Mala Buni CON(born 19 November 1967), is a Nigerian politician. He was born in Buni Yadi, Gujba local government area of Yobe state, North east Nigeria. He is the current governor of Yobe State, Nigeria. He was elected governor during the 2 ...

assumed office as the governor of Yobe State under the Party APC ( All Progressive Congress) and Idi Barde Gubana is the Deputy-Gorvenor of the state

Ethnic groups

The major ethnic groups living in Yobe State are the

fulani The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. ...

and kanuri, while other ethnic communities include

Bolewa Bole (''bòo pikkà'', also known as Bolanchi, Ampika, Borpika, Bolewa, Bolawa) is a West Chadic The West Chadic languages of the Afro-Asiatic family are spoken principally in Niger and Nigeria. They include Hausa, the most populous Chadi ...

, Ngizim, Bade, Hausa, Ngamo, Shuwa, Bura, Marghi,

karai-karai Karai-Karai (Francophonic spelling: Karekare, Kerrikerri, Ajami: كاراي-كاراي) is a language spoken in West Africa, most prominently North eastern Nigeria. The number of speakers of Karai-Karai is estimated between 1,500,000 to 1,800,00 ...

and

Manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

Languages

Languages of Yobe State listed by LGA: Other languages of Yobe State are Duwai,

Shuwa Arabs The Baggāra ( ar, البَقَّارَة "heifer herder") or Chadian Arabs are a nomadic confederation of people of mixed Arab and Arabized indigenous African ancestry, inhabiting a portion of the Sahel mainly between Lake Chad and the Nile riv ...

, and Zarma.

Education

Tertiary institutions in Yobe state include: * Federal College of Education (Technical), Potiskum * The Federal Polytechnic Damaturu * Federal University, Gashua * Mai-Idris Alooma Polytechnic * Shehu Sule College of Nursing and Midwifery, Damaturu * Umar Suleiman College of Education * Yobe State University *

Religion

The population is mainly

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...

law is valid. However, there are Christians in the State although no Roman Catholic diocese has its seat in the state.

Notable people

Uwani Musa Abba Aji Uwani Musa Abba Aji (born 7 November 1956) is a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Early life and education Aji was born on November 7, 1956, in Gashua, Yobe State. She had her early education at Central Primary School Gashua in 1961 and ...

- CFR (born 7 November 1956) is a Nigerian

Jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the U ...

and Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria *

Usman Albishir Shehu Usman Albishir (15 June 1945 – 2 July 2012) was a Nigerian senator representing Yobe North constituency of Yobe State. He was a member of the business family of Alhaji Albishir Abdullahi and Late Hajiya Fatima Albishir. Education He ...

- (15 June 1945 – 2 July 2012) former senator and Senate Minority Leader *

Mamman Bello Ali Mamman Bello Ali (1958 – 26 January 2009) was Nigerian Senator for Yobe South senatorial district. He was the chairman senate committee on public account from 1999 to 2007, and the Governor of Yobe State from 2007 until his death in 2009. ...

- (1958 – 26 January 2009) former senator Yobe Zone B and former governor of Yobe State. *

Idris Alkali Mohammed Idris Alkali (1960–2018), also known as Nuri, was a Nigerians, Nigerian retired Major general who was declared missing on 3 September 2018 and found dead on 31 October 2018. During his military career, he served as the Chief of Admini ...

- former chief of administration, army headquarters *

Usman Alkali Baba Usman Alkali Baba CFR (born 1 March 1963), is the current substantive and 21st Nigerian Inspector General of Police. He was appointed by the President of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari to replace Mohammed Adamu who retired from Nigeria Police Fo ...

(born 1 March 1963) current Nigerian inspector-general of police *

Ibrahim Mohammed Bomai Ibrahim Mohammed Bomai (born 10 February 1960) is a Nigerian politician. He is the Senator representing Yobe South Senatorial District in the Nigerian Senators of the 9th National Assembly, 9th National Assembly. He is a member of the ruling Par ...

- (born 10 February 1960) a politician and the Senator representing Yobe South Senatorial District in the 9th National Assembly *

Imrana Alhaji Buba Imrana Alhaji Buba (born 6 August 1992) is a Nigerian social entrepreneur and activist who founded Youth Coalition Against Terrorism (YOCAT) which is now regarded as Youth Initiative Against Terrorism (YIAT), a volunteer-based organisation in no ...

- (born 6 August 1992) activist, social entrepreneur, recipient of

Queen's Young Leader Award Queen's Young Leader Award was an annual award given in recognition of leadership skills by young persons between the ages of 18 and 29. The award was open to selected Commonwealth of Nations to recognize exceptional people or organizations who ar ...

* Audu Bulama Bukarti - (1 January 1984) senior analyst in the Extremism Policy Unit of the

Tony Blair Institute for Global Change The Tony Blair Institute (TBI), commonly known by its trade name the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, is a non-profit organisation set up by former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair to provide advice to governments and "to help political leader ...

- (born 11 November 1967) politician and the current Governor of Yobe State *

Goni Modu Bura Goni Modu Zanna Bura was elected Senator for the Yobe East constituency of Yobe State, Nigeria at the start of the Nigerian Fourth Republic, running on the People's Democratic Party (Nigeria), People's Democratic Party (PDP) platform. He took o ...

- former deputy governor, former senator, and current ambassador of Nigeria to Syria and Lebanon *

Adamu Ciroma Adamu Ciroma (20 November 1934 – 5 July 2018) was a Nigerian politician and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, born to a Bole family in Potiskum, Yobe State. He was a member of the People's Democratic Party. Second Republic career I ...

- (born 20 November 1934) former Minister and Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria *

Ibrahim Gaidam Ibrahim Gaidam is a Nigerian politician and the incumbent Senator of Yobe East Senatorial District, Nigeria since June 2019. He was the immediate past governor of Yobe State, succeeded by the Former APC National Secretary, Mai Mala Buni on 29 M ...

- former governor and now Senator for Yobe Zone A *

Buba Galadima Buba Galadima is a Nigerian politician who was National Secretary of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) a party formed in the run-up to the 2011 national elections as a leading platform for former military ruler and President of Nigeria Gene ...

- politician and National Secretary of the Congress for Progressive Change(CPC) party * Bukar Ibrahim - (born October 1950) former governor of Yobe State and Senator in Nigeria *

Khadija Bukar Abba Ibrahim Khadija Bukar Abba-Ibrahim (born 6 January 1967) is a Nigerian politician and was All Progressives Congress member of the House of Representatives for Damatura/Gujba/Gulani/Tarmuwa in Yobe State. In 2016, she was made the Minister of State for ...

- (born 6 January 1967) member of the House of Representatives and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs * Waziri Ibrahim - first republic minister and presidential candidate of GNPP in the second republic *

Alwali Kazir Alwali Jauji Kazir CFR (born 2 August 1947) is a retired Nigerian Army Major General who was Military Governor of Kwara State, Nigeria from December 1989 to January 1992 during the military regime of Major General Ibrahim Babangida. And then C ...

- former chief of army staff *

Ahmed Lawan Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan (born 12 January 1959) is a Nigerian politician and professor who has served as President of the Senate of Nigeria since 2019. He represents the Yobe North Senatorial District in the Senate as a member of the All Progressi ...

- senator and Senate President of the 9th National Assembly * Zakariya Maimalari - a brigadier-general, who was killed in the 1966 Nigerian coup d'état while commanding the 2nd Brigade, Apapa, Lagos * Mahmoud Bukar Maina - (born 21 August 1986) a scientist, educator and science communicator *

Adamu Garba Talba Adamu Garba Talba (born 15 August 1952) is a native of Karai-Karai born in Nangere, Yobe State. He was elected Senator for the Yobe South constituency of Yobe State, Nigeria, taking office on 29 May 2007. Education Talba gained a Diploma In Pub ...

- a politician and former senator Yobe south * Ibrahim Talba - a former permanent secretary to the office of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. * Adamu Waziri - (born 14 September 1952) former minister of Police Affairs

References

External links

Yobe State Government homepage

Erdal Can Alkoçlar

Nigerian Post Office, with a map of LGAs of the state
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yobe State States and territories established in 1991 States of Nigeria