Gombe (Fula: Gelle/Wuro Gombe 𞤺𞤫𞥅𞤤𞥆𞤫/𞤱𞤵𞥅𞤪𞤮 𞤺𞤮𞤥𞤥𞤦𞤫,) is the capital

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Gombe State Gombe State (; ) is a States of Nigeria, state in North East (Nigeria), northeastern Nigeria, bordered to the north and northeast by the states of Borno State, Borno in the vicinity of Gongola River and Lake Dadin Kowa Dam, Dadin Kowa and Yobe S ...

, north-eastern

Nigeria Nigeria, 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 Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, with an estimated population of around 450,000. The major spoken languages in Gombe are Fulfulɗe and Hausa. Gombe Central Mosque 02

Population

is populated by the

Fulani people The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people are an ethnic group in Sahara, Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. Inhabiting many countries, they live mainly in West Africa and northern parts of Central Africa, South Sudan, Darfur, ...

constituting more than half of the state's population. Other ethnic groups include the Bolewa,

Tera Tera or TERA may refer to: People * Tera Hunter, American professor of history * Tera Patrick (born 1976) American pornographic actress * Tera people, an ethnic group in Gombe State, Nigeria Places * Téra, Niger * Tera, Paphos, Cyprus * ...

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 ...

, Lunguda 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 ...

people. The LGA has an area of 52 km² and a population of 280,000 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 numerical digit, digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, inclu ...

of the area is 760.

Administration

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

who is chosen by the residents of the local government area leads the Gombe Local Government Area's administration. The vice-chairman and councilors provide assistance to the chairman, who is in charge of overseeing the day-to-day operations of the local government area. 11 Wards make up the Gombe Local Government Area. The wards are: * Jekadafari * Ajiya * Bolari West * Bolari East * Kumbiya - Kumbiya * Pantami * Shamaki * Dawaki * Nasarawo * Herwagana * Bajoga

Politics

The current Local Government Chairman is Barrister Sani Ahmad Haruna.

Transport

Gombe is served by Gombe Lawanti International Airport, and by a station on the eastern mainline of the national railway network and Gombe Line Terminal in mid-city. On 1 Feb., President

Goodluck Jonathan Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957) is a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to former military head of state General Muhammadu Buhari and ...

announced that the Gombe-Kafanchan-Kaduna intercity train services had been "rehabilitated", saying "the inauguration of the train services was crucial to the growth and development of the Gombe and other adjoining states." "Minister of Transport, Idris Umar, flagged off the Gombe-Kafanchan-Port Harcourt and Gombe-Kafanchan-Kaduna intercity train services."

Culture and education

Gombe, as

capital, is the home of the notable Gombe State University (GSU) located at Shamaki ward, Tudun Wada, Gombe. The University was established during the then government of Governor Danjuma Goje in 2004, making it the first University in the State. Also, in Gombe is Federal College of Education (Technical), Gombe. Another state-run tertiary institution in Gombe is the College of Nursing and Midwifery Gombe State, which is situated in Jekadefari. Moreover, the College of Medical Sciences is also located in Gombe. Additionally, Gombe is home to a number of public and private elementary and secondary institutions, including MATRIX International Academy, Gombe Central, Government Science Secondary School, Government Day Secondary School (Pilot), and Pen Resource Academy, to name a few.

Quran

Nigeria has the highest number of huffadh in the world, with more than 1 million memorizers of the Quran. Many of them live in northern Nigeria and particularly in Gombe where Quran is an integral part of the culture of the Muslim community there. From a very young age, children are sent to Quranic schools where they first learn to read Arabic and then memorize the Quran. Quran is so highly prioritized by these communities that students will go to these madrasas before completing a university or scientific education. As a result of these efforts, several world class readers have emerged from the state including Hajara Ibrahim who won the International Female Quranic Recitation Competition in Jordan.

Economy

Farming is the main source of income for the inhabitants of

Maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

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 millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...

Guinea corn ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the grass genus ''Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain is used as food by humans, ...

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, 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 ...

, groundnut,

bean A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are traditi ...

s, Beni seed, and other food and

cash crop A cash crop, also called profit crop, is an Agriculture, agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate a marketed crop from a staple crop ("subsi ...

s are farmed in the state. Livestock rearing is also common in the state. Tudun Hatsi is a notable market where grain business thrives in Gombe local government. The market generates huge revenue to the local government and the state in general. The Gombe Urban Market is located in the Herwagana ward of Gombe Local Government. The state's geographical location and friendly economy make it a commercial area where entrepreneurs, even neighboring states, have their SMEs established. These SMEs have been the source of employment and income generation to many individuals Gombe town's unusual location in the heart of the North-East has made it a popular resting and gathering spot for travelers and traders from all over the geopolitical zone and beyond. Rice farm within Gombe

In 2008 an agreement was reached "to set up anti-venom manufacturing plant in Kaltungo General Hospital in Gombe," and provide medical training for snakebite patients. The

government ordered an additional N4 million in anti-venom for the hospital in 2009, due to a local increase in snakebites.

Sports

Gombe is also home to the new

Pantami Stadium The Pantami Stadium is a 12,000 capacity multi-purpose stadium at the Pantami district of Gombe, Gombe State, Nigeria. It is used mostly for football matches but also for state and national ceremonial events, such as religious, political and s ...

, a 12000-capacity sporting complex erected in 2010 by the then Governor Danjuma Goje's administration to help the state's sports growth. It replaced the earlier

Abubakar Umar Memorial Stadium Abubakar Umar Memorial Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Gombe, Gombe State, Nigeria, with a capacity of 10,000 people. It has been used mostly for football matches and used to be the home stadium of Gombe United F.C. The state government had lo ...

and is home to Gombe United F.C. and

Gombe Bulls Gombe Bulls is a Nigerian professional basketball team located in Gombe State. The team competes in the Nigerian Premier League. History The team participated in the 2017 FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup, which was the first time the team played ...

, the 2017

Nigerian Premier League The Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) (formerly the Nigeria Professional Football League) is the highest level of club football in Nigerian football league system. The Nigerian Premier League has suffered like many others, from the financ ...

runners-up (basketball).

Boko Haram

Gombe has been impacted by

jihadist Jihadism is a neologism for modern, armed militant Political aspects of Islam, Islamic movements that seek to Islamic state, establish states based on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief that armed confrontation ...

group

Boko Haram Boko Haram, officially known as Jama'at Ahl al-Sunna li al-Da'wa wa al-Jihad (), is a self-proclaimed jihadist militant group based in northeastern Nigeria and also active in Chad, Niger, northern Cameroon, and Mali. In 2016, the group spli ...

insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric warfare, asymmetric nature: small irregular forces ...

, having been attacked several times in the mid-2010s. On 22 December 2014, a

suicide bombing A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...

at a bus station killed over 20 people. On 1 January 2015, a suicide bomber attacked a

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

service at a church, injuring several people. On 14 January 2015, a suicide bomber killed two people and left 14 wounded at a Gombe mosque. On 2 February 2015, just minutes after a

campaign rally A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referen ...

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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Goodluck Johnathan, an attack by a

female suicide bomber Female suicide bombers are women who undertake suicide attacks, wherein the bomber kills herself while simultaneously killing targeted people. Suicide bombers are normally viewed as male political radicals but since the 1960s female suicide attac ...

left one person dead and eighteen injured. Two blasts had occurred in the city the previous day, leaving five people dead. Local residents "have set up checkpoints to defend Gombe" according to the BBC. Boko Haram attacked Gombe on 14 February 2015, as well as on 16 and 22 July 2015.

Climate

Located at an elevation of 451.61 meters (1481.66 feet) above sea level, Gombe has a Tropical wet and dry or savanna climate (Classification: Aw). The city's yearly temperature is 30.54 °C (86.97 °F) and it is 1.08% higher than Nigeria's averages.

References

{{Authority control Local Government Areas in Gombe State State capitals in Nigeria Populated places in Gombe State