Gombe State ( ff, Leyddi Gommbe 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤺𞤮𞤥𞥆𞤦𞤫) 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 ...

northeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

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 ...

, bordered to the north and northeast by the state of Borno and

Yobe 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 Potisk ...

, to the south by

Taraba State ) , image_map = Nigeria - Taraba.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location of Taraba State in Nigeria , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , ...

, to the southeast by

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 ...

, and to the west by

Bauchi State Bauchi State (Fula: ''Leydi Bauchi'' 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤦𞤢𞤵𞤷𞥅𞤭) is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Kano and Jigawa to the north, Taraba and Plateau to the south, Gombe and Yobe to the ea ...

. Named for the city of Gombe—the state's capital and largest city—Gombe State was formed from a part of

on 1 October 1996.The state is among the multi lingual states in Nigeria. Of the 36

states of Nigeria Nigeria is a federation of 36 states and 1 federal capital territory. Each of the 36 states is a semi-autonomous political unit that shares powers with the federal government as enumerated under the Constitution of Nigeria, Constitution of the F ...

, Gombe is the 21st largest in area and 32nd most populous with an estimated population of about 3.25 million as of 2016. Geographically, the State is within the

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

West Sudanian savanna The West Sudanian savanna is a tropical savanna ecoregion that extends across West Africa. Geography The ecoregion stretches east and west across West Africa, from the Atlantic coast of Senegal to the Mandara Mountains on Nigeria's eastern borde ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

. Important geographic features include

Gongola River The Gongola River is in northeastern Nigeria, the principal tributary of the Benue River. The upper course of the river as well as most of its tributaries are seasonal streams, but fill rapidly in August and September. The Gongola rises on the east ...

, which flows through Gombe's north and east into Lake Dadin Kowa, and part of the Muri Mountains, a small range in the state's far south. Among the state's nature are a number of snake species including

carpet viper ''Echis'' (common names: saw-scaled vipers, carpet vipersSpawls S, Branch B. 1995. ''The Dangerous Snakes of Africa''. Dubai: Ralph Curtis Books. Oriental Press. 192 pp. .) is a genus of vipers found in the dry regions of Africa, the Middle Eas ...

puff adder The puff adder (''Bitis arietans'') is a viperinae, viper species found in savannahs and grasslands from Morocco and western Arabia throughout Africa except for the Sahara and rainforest regions.U.S. Navy. 1991. ''Venomous Snakes of the World'' ...

, and

Egyptian cobra The Egyptian cobra (''Naja haje''), also known as Ouraeus ''(derived from the Ancient Greek word: ''οὐραῖος'' - )'', is one of the most venomous snakes in North Africa, which has caused many snakebite incidents to humans. It averages rou ...

populations along with

hippopotamus The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...

Senegal parrot The Senegal parrot (''Poicephalus senegalus'') is a parrot which is a resident breeder across a wide range of west Africa. It makes migrations within west Africa, according to the availability of the fruit, seeds and blossoms which make up its ...

, and grey-headed kingfisher populations. Ethnically, Gombe is inhabited by various ethnic groups, primarily the

Fulani people 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. ...

living in the north and centre of the state along with the

Bolewa Bole (''bòo pikkà'', also known as Bolanchi, Ampika, Borpika, Bolewa, Bolawa) is a West Chadic language spoken in Nigeria. Dialects include Bara and Fika, spoken in the Fika Emirate The Fika Emirate is a traditional state with headquarte ...

, Kanuri, and

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 ...

peoples while the state's diverse eastern and southern regions are populated by the Cham, Dadiya, Jara,

Kamo The name Kamo may refer to the following: Places Japan (Note: ''kamo'' ( 鴨), is the common word for ''duck'' in Japanese, but the following names do not necessarily mean ''duck'' and are not necessarily written with that character.) * Kamo, N ...

, Pero,

Tangale Tangale (Tangle) is a West Chadic languages, West Chadic language spoken in Northern region of Nigeria. The vast majority of the native speakers are found across Akko, Nigeria, Akko, Billiri, Kaltungo and Shongom Local Government Area of Gombe St ...

Tera TERA is a shielded twisted pair connector for use with Category 7 twisted-pair data cables, developed by The Siemon Company and standardised in 2003 by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) with the reference IEC 61076-3-104. Th ...

, and

Waja Waja (also known as Waja Temuga) is a town in northern Ethiopia. Located in the Debubawi Zone of the Tigray Region, south of the city of Alamata, Waja has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 1471 meters above sea level. It is one o ...

peoples. In the

pre-colonial Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...

period, the area that is now Gombe State was split up between various states until the early 1800s, 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 ...

seized much of the area and formed the

Gombe Emirate The Gombe Emirate (Fula: Lamurde Gombe 𞤤𞤢𞤥𞤮𞤪𞤣𞤫 𞤺𞤮𞤥𞤥𞤦𞤫) is a traditional state in Nigeria that roughly corresponds in area to the modern Gombe State. Gombe state also contains the emirates of Dukku, Deba, ...

under the

Sokoto Caliphate The Sokoto Caliphate (), also known as the Fulani Empire or the Sultanate of Sokoto, was a Sunni Muslim caliphate in West Africa. It was founded by Usman dan Fodio in 1804 during the Fulani jihads after defeating the Hausa Kingdoms in the Ful ...

. In the 1910s, British expeditions occupied the Emirate and the surrounding areas, incorporating them into the

Northern Nigeria Protectorate Northern Nigeria (Hausa: ''Arewacin Najeriya'') was a British protectorate which lasted from 1900 until 1914 and covered the northern part of what is now Nigeria. The protectorate spanned and included the emirates of the Sokoto Caliphate an ...

which later merged into

British Nigeria Colonial Nigeria was ruled by the British Empire from the mid-nineteenth century until 1960 when Nigeria achieved independence. British influence in the region began with the prohibition of slave trade to British subjects in 1807. Britain a ...

before becoming independent as

in 1960. Originally, modern-day Gombe State was a part of the post-independence Northern Region until 1967 when the region was split and the area became part of the North-Eastern State. After the North-Eastern State was split,

was formed in 1976 alongside ten other states. Twenty years afterward, a group of LGAs in the Bauchi's west was broken off to form the new Gombe State. Economically, Gombe State is largely based around

agriculture 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 people to ...

, mainly of

sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

, groundnuts,

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...

, and

tomatoes The tomato is the edible Berry (botany), berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to th ...

. Other key industries are services, especially in the city of Gombe, and the livestock herding of

camels A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. ...

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 mal ...

goats The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of Caprinae, goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a membe ...

, and

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

. Gombe has the fourth lowest

Human Development Index The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income indicators, whi ...

and second lowest

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...

in the country.

Overview

The state has an area of 20,265 km² and a population of around 2,365,000 people as of 2006. It was formed in October 1996, from part of the old Bauchi State by the Abacha military government. The state is located in Nigeria's Guinea savannah and Sudan savannah belts. Undulating hills, sandy rocks, and a few volcanic rocks make up the landscape. Its location in the north eastern zone, right within the expansive savannah, allows the state to share common borders with the states of Borno,

Taraba Taraba can refer to: * Taraba State * Taraba River The Taraba River is a river in Taraba State, Nigeria, a tributary of the Benue River. It joins the Benue on a floodplain 10 km wide and 50 km across. The major towns along the River Tar ...

, Adamawa and

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 Plateau ...

. Gombe has two distinct climates, the dry season (November–March) and the rainy season (April–October) with an average rainfall of 850mm. The State is headed by the Executive Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya and also has 24 State House Assembly members. Gombe has 11 Local Government Areas and 14 Emirates/chiefdoms. It has 3 Senators and 6 Members in the

National Assembly (Nigeria) The National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a bicameral legislature established under section 4 of the Nigerian Constitution. It consists of a Senate with 109 members and a 360-member House of Representatives. The body, modeled ...

Local Government Areas

Gombe State consists of eleven (11)

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 ...

. They are:

Demographics

Gombe State is a multi-ethnic society that consists of the majority

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. ...

tribe, who inhabit the Northern part of the Gombe State. They dominate 6 out of the 11 Local Government Areas of the state. This include Dukku, Kwami, Funakaye, Nafada, Akko, and Gombe LGAs. Apart from the Fulani, there are also the

, found in

Billiri Billiri (or Biliri) is one of the 11 Local Government Area of Gombe State, Nigeria bordered to the north by Akko LGA, south and east by Shongom as well as North-East by Kaltungo LGAs. It is a historical settlement of the Tangales which is lo ...

and

Kaltungo Kaltungo is a Local Government Area of Gombe State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the town of Kaltungo in the west of the Local Government Area on the A345 highway at . It has a landmark area of 881 km and a population of 149,805 as at ...

areas. Other ethnicities include the

, Tula,

(Yamaltu-Deba),

, and Kanuri, with their different cultural as well as lingual affiliations.

Climate

At 451.61 meters (1481.66 ft) above sea level, Gombe has a tropical wet and dry climate or savanna climate. The city averages a yearly temperature of 30.54°C (86.97°F), which is 1.08% warmer than the country as a whole. Gombe has 96.26 wet days (26.37% of the time) and receives approximately 66.84 millimeters (2.63 inches) of rain annually.

Languages

Languages of Gombe State listed by LGA:

Education

Higher institutions in Gombe State are: * Federal University Kashere * Gombe State University * Federal College of Education (Technical), Gombe * Federal College of Horticultural Technology, Dadin Kowa * Federal Polytechnic, Kaltungo * College of Education, Billiri * Gombe State College of Legal Studies, Nafada * Gombe State Polytechnic,

Bajoga Bajoga is a town and headquarters of Funakaye, and is also a local government area in the northern part of Gombe State, Nigeria. Bajoga is 9km south from Ashaka cement factory. JIBWIS Islamic secondary school bajoga is the first private secondar ...

* Gombe State University of science and Technology, Kumo * Gombe State College of Health Sciences and Technology,

Governors

This is a list of administrators and Governors of Gombe State.

Water board

Gombe State Water Board is a Gombe State Government organisation that aims at providing water for the citizens of Gombe State for domestic, industrial and commercial purposes. The government's organisations is governed by a board of directors composed of a part-time chairman, the chief executive or chief manager and nine other members. All members of the organisation are being appointed by the Governor and are serving on part-time bases, except the General Manager.

Board Members

The Secretary/Legal Adviser

The Secretary/Legal Adviser is a legal practitioner appointed by the Governor to render Legal Services to the Board.

The General Manager

The General Manager is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Board and assisted in the performance of his duties by five (5) Assistants. The responsibilities of the General Manager cover Projects Management and Planning, Operation and Services, Finance and Supply and Commercial Departments. Currently, the governor of Gombe state, Alhaji Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, has appointed Magaji Abubakar Difa as the general manager of the organisation.

Notable people

Amina Mohammed Amina Jane Mohammed (born 27 June 1961) is a Nigerian-British diplomat and politician who is serving as the fifth Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, she was Nigerian Minister of Environment from 2015 to 2016 and was ...

, UN deputy secretary * Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi, teacher, preacher * Sheikh Kabir Muhammad Haruna Gombe, preacher *

Isa Ali Pantami Isa Ali Ibrahim " Pantami" born in Gombe, and commonly known as Sheikh Pantami, an Islamic cleric who is currently serving as Minister of Communications and Digital Economy in Nigeria. He was the Director General of the National Information Te ...

, preacher and Minister of communication * Danladi Mohammed, politician * Joshua M. Lidani, politician * Eli Jidere Bala, engineer *

Usman Bayero Nafada Senator Usman Bayero Nafada (born 2 January 1961) is a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria representing Dukku/Nafada Federal Constituency of Gombe state, and a former senator for the Gombe North senatorial district i ...

, politician *

Samkon Gado Samkon Kaltho Gado (born November 13, 1982) is a Nigerian-American otolaryngologist. He is a former American football running back in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Miami Dolphins and St. Louis Rams. He pl ...

Nigerian-American Nigerian Americans ( ig, Ṇ́dị́ Naìjíríyà n'Emerịkà; ha, Yan Najeriyar asalin Amurka; yo, Àwọn ọmọ Nàìjíríà Amẹ́ríkà) are an ethnic group of Americans who are of Nigerian ancestry. The number of Nigerian immigran ...

otolaryngologist Otorhinolaryngology ( , abbreviated ORL and also known as otolaryngology, otolaryngology–head and neck surgery (ORL–H&N or OHNS), or ear, nose, and throat (ENT)) is a surgical subspeciality within medicine that deals with the surgical a ...

and

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player *

Zainab Adamu Bulkachuwa Zainab Adamu Bulkachuwa, OFR (born March 1950) is a Nigerian judge and former President of the Nigerian courts of appeal She is the first Female to be the President of the Nigerian court of Appeal. Early life Justice Zainab Adamu Bulkacha O ...

, jurist * Jaaruma, entrepreneur *

Aliyu Modibbo Umar Aliyu Modibbo Umar (born 15 November 1958) is a Nigerian technocrat who was the federal Minister of State for Power and Steel from December 2002 to May 2003, Minister of Commerce from July 2006 to July 2007, then Minister for the FCT (Federal Ca ...

, politician *

Mohammed Danjuma Goje Mohammed Danjuma Goje (born 10 October 1952) was a former Governor of Gombe State, Nigeria under the platform of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), taking office on 29 May 2003 during the 2003 Gombe State gubernatorial election. He is now a ...

, politician *

Helon Habila Helon Habila Ngalabak (born November 1967) is a Nigerian novelist and poet, whose writing has won many prizes, including the Caine Prize in 2001. He worked as a lecturer and journalist in Nigeria before moving in 2002 to England, where he was a ...

, novelist * Dahiru Mohammed, Politician * Abubakar Buba Atare, Emir of Tula Chiefdom *

Buba Yero Abubakar dan Usman Subande (b. c.1762 – d. 1841) popularly known as Buba Yero was the founder and the first emir of Gombe and had held the title of Modibbo of Gombe. In 1804, Buba Yero founded Gombe emirate, he was a follower of the Fulani jihad ...

, the first Emir of Gombe *

Abubakar Shehu-Abubakar Abubakar Shehu-Abubakar CFR(born 17 December 1977, Gombe, Nigeria) is a Nigerian traditional leader who was appointed the 11th Emir of Gombe in June 2014. He became Emir following the death of his father, Shehu Abubakar, the 10th emir, who di ...

, 11th Emir of Gombe *

Musa Dankyau Musa may refer to: Places *Mūša, a river in Lithuania and Latvia * Musa, Azerbaijan, a village in Yardymli Rayon * Musa, Iran, a village in Ilam Province * Musa, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Iran *Musa, Kerman, Iran * Musa, Bukan, West Azerbaijan ...

, Professor of Family Medicin

Abdullahi Mahdi
Educationalist

Tourist Attractions in Gombe

The state has a lot of attraction and they include: The Tomb of Muhammadu Attahiru I, Tomb of Sultan Attahiru Bubayero's Tomb The famous Bima Hill The

Dadin Kowa Dam The Dadin Kowa Dam is situated in Yamaltu Deba local government area of Gombe State in the North east part of Nigeria. The dam is located about 37 kilometers to the east of Gombe town and 5km froDadin kowavillage, and provides drinking water for ...

The Killang Hill The Tula Plateau The Bulok Warm Spring The Kalam Hill The Cham Valley The Ancient Binga Ruins Major Mash Grave LT Phillips Grave Bace Hills Tula Hideout Caves Kanawa Forest

References

{{Portal bar, Nigeria States of Nigeria States and territories established in 1996