The Suleja Emirate (

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 * ...

: ''Masarautar Suleja'') is a

principality in what is now

Niger State Niger is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria and the largest state in the country. Niger state has three political zones, zone A,B and C. The state's capital is at Minna. Other major cities are Bida, Kontagora and Suleja. It was fo ...

, Nigeria. The emirate was established as the Abuja Emirate during the 19th century, located just north of the site of the present-day federal capital city named

Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

. When the new city was established, the emirate and its capital were renamed the Suleja Emirate and

Suleja Suleja is a city in Niger State, Nigeria, pop. (2016) local government area, 260,240, just north of Abuja, capital of the Suleja Emirate. It is sometimes confused with the nearby city of Abuja, due to its proximity, and the fact that it was origi ...

. The emirate covers about 1,150 square miles (2,980 square km) of wooded savanna area. Suleja Emirate,

Kontagora Emirate The Kontagora Emirate is a traditional state with the capital city of Kontagora, Niger State, Nigeria. The Kontagora Emirate is among the major emirates in Niger state like Kagara Emirate, Suleja Emirate and others History Kontagora is made up o ...

Borgu Emirate The Borgu Emirate is a Nigerian traditional state with its capital in New Bussa, Niger State, Nigeria. The Emirate was formed in 1954 when the Bussa and Kaiama emirates were merged. These emirates, with Illa, were formerly part of the Borgu state, ...

Agaie Emirate The Agaie Emirate was a state created by Malam Baba, a Fulani warrior who conquered the Nupe people of the area in 1822. Its seat was the present town of Agaie in Niger State, Nigeria, and was subject to the Sokoto Caliphate. Baba's son Abdullahi ...

and

Kagara Emirate The Kagara Emirate is a traditional state which located in Kagara near to Pandogari town, Kagara is the capital of Rafi local government Niger State, Nigeria. The Emirate is located in Niger East Senatorial District. List of rulers Kagara E ...

were the major Emirates in Niger state.

History

The current emirate originally included four small Koro chiefdoms that paid tribute to the Hausa

Zazzau Emirate The Zazzau, also known as the Zaria Emirate, is a traditional state with headquarters in the city of Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. The current emir of Zazzau is Alhaji Ahmed Nuhu Bamalli who succeeded the former emir, late Alhaji Shehu Idris. Ea ...

. After warriors of the

Fulani jihad The Fulani War of 1804–1808, also known as the Fulani Jihad or Jihad of Usman dan Fodio, was a military conflict in present-day Nigeria and Cameroon. The war began when Usman Dan Fodiyo, a prominent Islamic scholar and teacher, was exiled ...

(holy war) captured

Zaria Zaria is a metropolitan city in Nigeria which at the present time lies within four (4) local government areas in Kaduna state; it happens to be the capital city to the Zazzau Emirate Council, and one of the original seven Hausa city-states ...

, Zazzau's capital, 137 miles (220 km) north-northeast about 1804, Muhammadu Makau, sarki (king) of Zazzau, led many of the

nobility to the Koro town of Zuba. Abu Ja (Jatau), his brother and successor as Sarkin Zazzau, founded Abuja town in 1828, began construction of its wall a year later, and proclaimed himself the first sarki of Abuja, while retaining the title ''Sarkin Zazzau. Withstanding Zaria attacks, the Abuja emirate remained an independent Hausa refuge. Trade with the Fulani emirates of Bida (to the west) and Zaria began in Emir Abu Kwaka's reign (1851–77). When Abuja's leaders disrupted the trade route between

Lokoja Lokoja is a city in Nigeria. It lies at the confluence of the Niger and Benue rivers and is the capital city of Kogi State. While the Yoruba (Oworo), Bassa Nge and Nupe are indigenous to the area, other ethnic groups of Nigeria, including the ...

and Zaria in 1902, the British occupied the town. Alluvial tin mining began in Emir Musa Angulu's reign (1917–44). In 1976 a large part of the emirate plus territory from other states became the

Federal Capital Territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

, centred on the new city of

. The emirate was renamed

, based on the renamed town of

which remained in Niger State.

Awwal Ibrahim Alhaji Mohammed Awwal Ibrahim is a Nigerian traditional ruler who served as governor of Niger State from October 1979 to December 1983 during the Nigerian Second Republic. He was elected on the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) platform. Early li ...

became the Emir, or Sarkin Zazzau, of

in 1993. His accession resulted in rioting and destruction of property by opponents. He was deposed on 10 May 1994 by General

Sani Abacha Sani Abacha (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military officer and politician who ruled as the military head of state of Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998. He seized power on 17 November 1993 in the last successful c ...

. After the return to democracy, Awwal Ibrahim was restored to his title of Emir of Suleja on 17 January 2000. His restoration again caused a series of violent clashes, forcing the government to call in anti-riot troopers and impose a 20-hour curfew.

List of rulers

Following is a list of the rulers of the emirate.

References

{{Nigerian traditional states Niger State Nigerian traditional states Emirates