Bakura is a
Local Government Area
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 (administrative division), state, province, divi ...
in
Zamfara State
Zamfara (Hausa: Jihar Zamfara Fula: Leydi Zamfara 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤶𞤢𞤥𞤬𞤢𞤪𞤢) is a state in northwestern Nigeria. The capital of Zamfara state is Gusau and its current Governor is Bello Matawalle. Until 1996, the area was ...
,
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 ...
. Its headquarters are in the town of Bakura at in the north-east of the Local government area.
It has an area of 1,366 km and a population of 186,905 at the 2006 census.
The
postal code
A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal ...
of the area is 892.
Toponym
The term ''Bakura'' originates from a
Hausa saying: "an yi rabon kura; ka tafi Bakura, kura ta cinyaka da rana" ("
ou saida hyena did the dividing;
ellyou went to Bakura
ndthe hyena took a bite of you in broad daylight"). This saying refers to the
revolt of Abd al-Salam of
Kware in 1817, during which he accused
Usman dan Fodio
Usman Ɗan Fodio ( ar, عثمان بن فودي, translit=ʿUthmān ibn Fodio; 15 December 1754 – 20 April 1817) was a Fulani scholar, Sunni Islamic religious teacher, revolutionary, and philosopher who founded the Sokoto Caliphate and ruled ...
of unfairly distributing territory to his family after the
Sokoto revolution, comparing it to a "hyena's share."
The saying is intended to mock Abd al-Salam, as it reflects the irony of his situation. After engaging in battle with
Sultan Bello
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
's forces, Abd al-Salam fled to Bakura where he died from an arrow wound, and his dead body was devoured by
hyenas
Hyenas, or hyaenas (from Ancient Greek , ), are feliform carnivoran mammals of the family Hyaenidae . With only four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the Carnivora and one of the smallest in the cla ...
, thus reinforcing the reference to ''Bakura'' ('kura' meaning hyena in
Hausa).
Climate
With temperatures ranging from 62°F to 103°F, the climate has two distinct seasons: a scorching, oppressive rainy season with predominantly cloudy skies, and a scorching, partly cloudy dry season.
References
Local Government Areas in Zamfara State
{{Zamfara-geo-stub