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 ...

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 of G ...

. 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 Yobe is a state located in northeastern Nigeria. A mainly agricultural state, it was created on 27 August 1991. Yobe State was carved out of Borno State. The capital of Yobe State is Damaturu; and it's largest and most populated city is Poti ...

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 Damaturu is a Local Government Area and the capital city of Yobe State in northern Nigeria. It is the headquarters of the Damaturu Emirate. History Damaturu came into existence as a colony when it was carved out of the Alagarno district by th ...

; and it's largest and most populated city is

Potiskum Potiskum is the largest city in Yobe State and originally the town has about three major tribes which include a Ngizim, bolawa and kara-kare. It is one of the Local Government Area in Yobe State Nigeria, it is on the A3 highway at . History The ...

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.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 Diffa is a city and Urban Commune in the extreme southeast of Niger, near the border with Nigeria. It is the administrative seat of both Diffa Region, and the smaller Diffa Department.Geels, Jolijn, (2006) ''Bradt Travel Guide - Niger'', pgs. ...

and

Zinder Region Zinder Region is one of the seven regions of Niger; the capital of the region is Zinder. The region covers 145,430 km². It is the most populous province of Niger. History Numerous Palaeolithic and Neolithic remains, as well as cave painting ...

s 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 to ...

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 in t ...

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 who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

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 f ...

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 f ...

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 ta ...

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 ba ...

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 irregu ...

. Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau 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 in December 2011, Potiskum in December 2012, November 2014 and July 2015, Mamudo in July 2013, Gujba 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 phrase i ...

(or LGAs). They are: * Bade * Bursari *

Geidam Geidam is a Local Government Area in Yobe State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Geidam in the northwest of the area at. On 24 April 2021 terrorists from ISWAP seized Geidam killing 11 people, and over 6,000 residents were displaced. ...

* Gujba * Gulani * 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 *

Karasuwa Karasuwa is a Local Government Area in Yobe State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Jajimaji on the Hadejia River at . It has an area of 1,162 km2 and a population of 106,992 at the 2006 census. Land Areas Karasuwa local gove ...

* Machina * Nangere *

Nguru Nguru may refer to: * Pila Nguru, an aboriginal people of Australia * Nguru (flute), a small Māori nose flute from New Zealand * Nguru, Nigeria, a town and LGA in Yobe State * Hadejia-Nguru wetlands, northern Nigeria * Nguru Lake, a lake which f ...

* Tarmuwa * Yunusari *

Yusufari Yusufari is a Local Government Area in Yobe State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Yusufari in the south-east of the area at . It shares a border in the north with The Republic of Niger. It has an area of 3,928 km and a popula ...

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 dr ...

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 octahed ...

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 A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes t ...

, 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 p ...

. 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 in

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, Mau ...

, located in Potiskum.

Governor

On 29 May 2019, Mai Mala Buni 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 An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history ...

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, Ngizim, Bade,

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also ...

, Ngamo, Shuwa,

Bura Bura may refer to: Places * Bura (Achaea), a city in Greece * Boura, Burkina Faso (disambiguation), also spelled Bura * Bura, Iran (disambiguation) * Bura, Taita-Taveta District, Kenya * Bura, Tana River District, Kenya People and civilizatio ...

, 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 use ...

Languages

Languages of Yobe State listed by LGA: Other languages of Yobe State are Duwai, Shuwa Arabs, and Zarma.

Education

Tertiary institutions in Yobe state include: *

Federal College of Education (Technical), Potiskum The Federal College of Education (Technical), Potiskum is a federal government higher education institution, located in Potiskum, Yobe State, Nigeria. It was first affiliated to Federal University of Technology Minna then substituted to Abub ...

The Federal Polytechnic Damaturu The Federal Polytechnic Damaturu is a federal government higher education institution located in Damaturu, Yobe State, Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya official ...

* 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. Sharia 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 - 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 Un ...

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 H ...

- (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 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 Administration, A ...

- former chief of administration, army headquarters * Usman Alkali Baba (born 1 March 1963) current Nigerian inspector-general of police * Ibrahim Mohammed Bomai - (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 leade ...

* Mai Mala Buni - (born 11 November 1967) politician and the current Governor of Yobe State * Goni Modu Bura - 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 - 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 - (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 - 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 Progressiv ...

- senator and Senate President of the 9th National Assembly *

Zakariya Maimalari Zakariya Maimalari was a Nigerian Army brigadier, he was killed in the 1966 Nigerian coup d'état. He was commander of the 2nd Brigade, Apapa, Lagos in 1966. Maimalari was born in the present day Yobe State, he was educated at Barewa College ...

- 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 P ...

- 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