Yobe 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 ...

located in northeastern

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 ...

. A mainly agricultural state, it was created on 27 August 1991.

Yobe State 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 Poti ...

was carved out of Borno State. The capital of Yobe State is

Damaturu Damaturu is a Local Government Area and the capital city of Yobe State in northern Nigeria. It is the headquarters of the Damaturu Emirate. History Damaturu came into existence as a colony when it was carved out of the Alagarno district by the ...

; and it's largest and most populated city is

Potiskum Potiskum is the largest city in Yobe State and originally the town has about three major tribes which include a Ngizim, bolawa and kara-kare. It is one of the Local Government Area in Yobe State Nigeria, it is on the A3 highway at . History The ...

Geography

The state borders four states: Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, and Jigawa.Yobe State shares borders with Borno State to the east, Gombe State to the south, Bauchi and Jigawa States to the west and Niger Republic to the north. It borders to the north the

Diffa Diffa is a city and Urban Commune in the extreme southeast of Niger, near the border with Nigeria. It is the administrative seat of both Diffa Region, and the smaller Diffa Department.Geels, Jolijn, (2006) ''Bradt Travel Guide - Niger'', pgs. ...

and

Zinder Region Zinder Region is one of the seven regions of Niger; the capital of the region is Zinder. The region covers 145,430 km². It is the most populous province of Niger. History Numerous Palaeolithic and Neolithic remains, as well as cave paintin ...

s of

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagessavanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

belt, conditions are hot and dry for most of the year, except in the southern part of the state which has more annual rainfall. Tulutulu_in_yobe_state_Nigeria

History

Yobe State came into being on 27

August August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...

1991. It was carved out of the old Borno State by the Babangida administration. Yobe State was created because the old Borno State was one of Nigeria's largest states in terms of land area and was therefore considered to be too large for easy administration and meaningful development.

Ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

rivalries within the old Borno State also contributed to the decision.

Climate

The climate condition of Yobe is warm with daily temperature of . November being the sunniest month and rainy day is between August and December

Boko Haram

On 14 May 2013,

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: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Goodluck Jonathan Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957)Lawson Heyford, ''The Source'' (Lagos), 11 December 2006. is a Nigerian politician who served as the President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to fo ...

declared a state of emergency in Yobe State along with nearby Borno and

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 ...

s, due to the

jihadist Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

network Boko Haram's

insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irr ...

. Boko Haram's leader

Abubakar Shekau Abu Mohammed Abubakar al-Sheikawi (also known by the alias ''Darul Akeem wa Zamunda Tawheed'', or ''Darul Tawheed''; "the abode of monotheism"; born 1965, 1969 or 1975 – 19 May 2021) was a Kanuri man known as the leader of Boko Haram, a Niger ...

was born in Shekau village of Yobe. Boko Haram's attacks in Yobe include those in Damaturu in November 2011, December 2011 and June 2012, Gadaka in December 2011, Potiskum in December 2012, November 2014 and July 2015, Mamudo in July 2013, Gujba in September 2013, Buni Yadi in February and May 2014 and Dapchi in 2018.

Local Government Areas

Yobe State consists of 17 local government areas (or LGAs). They are: * Bade * Bursari *

Geidam Geidam is a Local Government Area in Yobe State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Geidam in the northwest of the area at. On 24 April 2021 terrorists from ISWAP seized Geidam killing 11 people, and over 6,000 residents were displaced. ...

* Gujba * Gulani * Fika * Fune * Jakusko * Karasuwa * Machina * Nangere * Nguru *

* Tarmuwa * Yunusari *

Yusufari Yusufari is a Local Government Area in Yobe State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Yusufari in the south-east of the area at . It shares a border in the north with The Republic of Niger. It has an area of 3,928 km and a populat ...

Economy

While Yobe state is an agricultural state, it also has rich mineral deposits, including

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywal ...

and

kaolin Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral ...

in Fune local government and very rich agricultural resources as well. The State's agricultural produce include

gum arabic Gum arabic, also known as gum sudani, acacia gum, Arabic gum, gum acacia, acacia, Senegal gum, Indian gum, and by other names, is a natural gum originally consisting of the hardened sap of two species of the ''Acacia'' tree, '' Senegalia se ...

, groundnuts,

beans A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes thr ...

, and

cotton Cotton 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 cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

. The State also has one of the largest

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 ma ...

markets in

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...

, located in Potiskum.

Governor

On 29 May 2019, Mai Mala Buni assumed office as the governor of Yobe State under the Party APC ( All Progressive Congress) and Idi Barde Gubana is the Deputy-Gorvenor of the state

Ethnic groups

The major

ethnic groups An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

living in Yobe State are the

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. ...

and kanuri, while other ethnic communities include Bolewa, Ngizim, Bade,

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 ...

, Ngamo, Shuwa, Bura, Marghi, karai-karai and Manga.

Languages

Languages of Yobe State listed by LGA: Other languages of Yobe State are Duwai, Shuwa Arabs, and Zarma.

Education

Tertiary institutions in Yobe state include: * Federal College of Education (Technical), Potiskum *

The Federal Polytechnic Damaturu The Federal Polytechnic Damaturu is a federal government higher education institution located in Damaturu, Yobe State, Nigeria. The current acting Rector is Usman M. Kallamu. History The Federal Polytechnic Damaturu was established in 1992. C ...

* Federal University, Gashua *

Mai-Idris Alooma Polytechnic The Mai-Idris Alooma Polytechnic is a state government higher education institution located in Geidam, Yobe State, Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially t ...

* Shehu Sule College of Nursing and Midwifery, Damaturu * Umar Suleiman College of Education * Yobe State University *

Religion

The population is mainly Muslim. Sharia law is valid. However, there are Christians in the State although no Roman Catholic diocese has its seat in the state.

Notable people

* Uwani Musa Abba Aji - CFR (born 7 November 1956) is a Nigerian Jurist and Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria * Usman Albishir - (15 June 1945 – 2 July 2012) former senator and Senate Minority Leader * Mamman Bello Ali - (1958 – 26 January 2009) former senator Yobe Zone B and former governor of Yobe State. * Idris Alkali - former chief of administration, army headquarters * Usman Alkali Baba (born 1 March 1963) current Nigerian inspector-general of police * Ibrahim Mohammed Bomai - (born 10 February 1960) a politician and the Senator representing Yobe South Senatorial District in the 9th National Assembly * Imrana Alhaji Buba - (born 6 August 1992) activist, social entrepreneur, recipient of Queen's Young Leader Award * Audu Bulama Bukarti - (1 January 1984) senior analyst in the Extremism Policy Unit of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change * Mai Mala Buni - (born 11 November 1967) politician and the current Governor of Yobe State * Goni Modu Bura - former deputy governor, former senator, and current ambassador of Nigeria to Syria and Lebanon *

Adamu Ciroma Adamu Ciroma (20 November 1934 – 5 July 2018) was a Nigerian politician and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, born to a Bole family in Potiskum, Yobe State. He was a member of the People's Democratic Party. Second Republic career ...

- (born 20 November 1934) former Minister and Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria * Ibrahim Gaidam - former governor and now Senator for Yobe Zone A * Buba Galadima - politician and National Secretary of the Congress for Progressive Change(CPC) party * Bukar Ibrahim - (born October 1950) former governor of Yobe State and Senator in Nigeria * Khadija Bukar Abba Ibrahim - (born 6 January 1967) member of the House of Representatives and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs *

Waziri Ibrahim Alhadji Waziri Kolo Ibrahim (26 February 1926 – 1992) was a Kanuri business man from Borno State, Nigeria, who became a prominent politician and party leader during the Nigerian Second Republic. He was one of the original founders and financie ...

- first republic minister and presidential candidate of GNPP in the second republic * Alwali Kazir - former chief of army staff *

Ahmed Lawan Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan (born 12 January 1959) is a Nigerian politician and professor who has served as President of the Senate of Nigeria since 2019. He represents the Yobe North Senatorial District in the Senate as a member of the All Progressi ...

- senator and Senate President of the 9th National Assembly *

Zakariya Maimalari Zakariya Maimalari was a Nigerian Army brigadier, he was killed in the 1966 Nigerian coup d'état. He was commander of the 2nd Brigade, Apapa, Lagos in 1966. Maimalari was born in the present day Yobe State, he was educated at Barewa College, Z ...

- a brigadier-general, who was killed in the 1966 Nigerian coup d'état while commanding the 2nd Brigade, Apapa, Lagos * Mahmoud Bukar Maina - (born 21 August 1986) a scientist, educator and science communicator * Adamu Garba Talba - a politician and former senator Yobe south * Ibrahim Talba - a former permanent secretary to the office of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. * Adamu Waziri - (born 14 September 1952) former minister of Police Affairs

References

External links

Yobe State Government homepage

Erdal Can Alkoçlar

Nigerian Post Office, with a map of LGAs of the state
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yobe State States and territories established in 1991 States of Nigeria