Say (Saayi) is a town in southwest

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesNiger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through ...

. It is the capital of the

Say Department Say is a department of the Tillabéri Region in Niger. Its capital city is Say, and includes the towns of Guéladjo, Tamou, and Torodi. It abuts the urban Region of Niamey, and lies across the Niger River to the southwest of the capital. It ...

in the

Tillabéri Region Tillabéri (var. ''Tillabéry'') is one of the eight Regions of Niger; the capital of the Region is Tillabéri. Tillabéri Region was created in 1992, when Niamey Region was split, with Niamey and its immediate hinterland becoming a new ''capital ...

. Say was a small Songhai town prior to the arrival of the Fulani marabout Alfa Mohamed Diobo in the 19th Century who converted the town to a center for Islamic learning and established the

Emirate of Say The Emirate of Say was an Islamic state founded in 1825 by Alfa Mohamed Diobo, a Qadiriyya Sufi leader who came to Say from Djenné (Mali) in 1810. Though Diobo was no conqueror, his control over Say was ensured by both his clerical renown and t ...

. The municipality has 70,234 inhabitants, and its economy is dominated by

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 ...

herding Herding is the act of bringing individual animals together into a group (herd), maintaining the group, and moving the group from place to place—or any combination of those. Herding can refer either to the process of animals forming herds in ...

and small trade. Today, the inhabitants of Say are mostly

Peulh 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 ...

, Songhai and Zarma.

Overview

The town houses the Islamic University of Niger (''Université Islamique de Say''), an institute of international scope, whose founding was decided following a meeting of the

Organisation of the Islamic Conference An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

in 1974, but that opened only in 1986. In 1996, it had 400 students, who paid fees much lower than those of the

University of Niamey Abdou Moumouni University (French: Université Abdou Moumouni de Niamey, UAM) was formerly the University of Niamey from 1974 to 1994. On the right bank of the Niger River in Niamey, its students and faculty have historically been involved in prote ...

. In Say there is also a forty-year-old College of Secondary Education (''Collège d'enseignement secondaire''), with nine teachers and 675 students.

History

Say was part of the Songhay Empire, which peaked during the high middle ages. It was here that some of the black horsemen who were crushed by the

Almoravid The Almoravid dynasty ( ar, المرابطون, translit=Al-Murābiṭūn, lit=those from the ribats) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that ...

warriors sought refuge at the end of the sixteenth century. In the 19th Century, Say became an

Emirate An emirate is a territory ruled by an emir, a title used by monarchs or high officeholders in the Muslim world. From a historical point of view, an emirate is a political-religious unit smaller than a caliphate. It can be considered equivalen ...

under the leadership of the Marabout Alfa Mohamed Diobo. The town was occupied by France on 9 May 1897 and administered from Dahomey until 1907. In 1928, it became part of the cercle of Niamey. Located 57 km from

Niamey Niamey () is the capital and largest city of Niger. Niamey lies on the Niger River, primarily situated on the east bank. Niamey's population was counted as 1,026,848 as of the 2012 census. As of 2017, population projections show the capital di ...

, not far from the

W National Park The W National Park (french: Parc national du W) or W Regional Park (french: W du Niger, links=no) is a major national park in West Africa around a meander in the River Niger shaped like the letter W (french: double v, links=no). The park includ ...

. The town (now an urban commune) has today 70,000 people but bears little resemblance to the ancient center of Islamic learning. In recognition of its former role, however, Niger's first

Madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

(Islamic School) was set up here in 1957, and in 1974 the

Organization of the Islamic Conference An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

designated Say as the site for an Islamic university for West Africa, The new university, the Islamic University of Say, opened its doors in October 1986, with Dr. Abdallah Ben Abdel Mohsen At-Turki as its rector. Say is connected to the capital Niamey by an all-weather road and has a colorful Friday market to which many tourists flock.

Mining

Say is the location of some potential iron ore mines with reserves of about 650MT.Niger-MINING
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Transport

An extension of the railway from

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

is proposed which would serve the iron ore mines at Say.

Gallery

File:Femme de Say-1898.jpg, Woman from Say, 1898 File:Femmes de Say-1898.jpg, People of Say, 1898 File:Indigènes de Say-1898.jpg, People of Say, 1898 File:Marabouts de Say Niger 1912.jpg, Marabouts of Say, 1912

References

External links

* {{Authority control Mining communities in Africa Mining in Niger Communes of Tillabéri Region