Monthly Archives: May 2019

Osun State

History Of Osun State

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Osun is an inland state in south-western Nigeria. Its capital is Osogbo.

The modern Osun State was created in August 27, 1991 from part of the old Oyo State. The state’s name is derived from the River Osun, the venerated natural spring that is the manifestation of the Yoruba goddess of the same name.

Important cultural events in the state include the Ori Oke and Egungun festival in Iragbiji, Olojo in Ife and the Osun Osogbo festival.

Every year, adherents and non-adherents of Osun, one of the Orisa (the traditional deities of the Yoruba people), travel from all over the world to attend the annual Osun-Osogbo festival in August. Visitors include nationals of Brazil, Cuba, Trinidad, Grenada, and other nations in the Americas with a significant Yoruba cultural heritage. Annual traditional festivities and invocations of the Osun goddess are held along the banks of the river bearing her name into which – according to Yoruba Oratory traditions – she transformed.

Ọsun-Ọsogbo Groove, the shrine of the annual rites of the deity and an important artistic center, was declared a World Heritage Site in 2005

Oyo State

History Of Oyo State

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Oyo, usually referred to as Oyo State to distinguish it from the city of Oyo, is an inland state in south-western Nigeria, with its capital at Ibadan. It is bounded in the north by Kwara State, in the east by Osun State, in the south by Ogun State and in the west partly by Ogun State and partly by the Republic of Benin.

Oyo State was formed in 1976 from Western State, and included Ọsun State, which was split off in 1991. Oyo State is homogenous, mainly inhabited by the Yoruba ethnic group who are primarily agrarian but have a predilection for living in high-density urban centers. The indigenes mainly comprise the Oyos, the Oke-Oguns, the Ibadans and the Ibarapas, all belonging to the Yoruba family and indigenous city in Africa. Ibadan had been the centre of administration of the old Western Region since the days of British colonial rule.

Other notable cities and towns in Ọyọ State include Ọyọ, Ogbomọsọ, Isẹyin, Kisi, Okeho, Saki, Eruwa, Iroko, Lanlate, Oje-Owode, Sepeteri, Ilora, Awe, Ilero, Igbeti, Igboho and Igbo-Ora, Otu.

Katsina State

History Of Katsina State

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Katsina, usually referred to as Katsina State to distinguish it from the city of Katsina, is a state in North West zone of Nigeria. Its capital is Katsina, and its Governor is Aminu Bello Masari, a member of the All Progressives Congress. Katsina State was carved out of old Kaduna State in 1987.

The Hausa people (sometimes grouped with the Fulani as Hausa-Fulani) are the largest ethnic group.[4]

Religion


 The state is predominantly Muslim, and Gobarau Minaret is an important building. Sharia is valid in the entire state. The Church of Nigeria has a Diocese of Katsina. The Redeemed Christian Church of God and the Roman Catholic Church are fairly present in the state.

Kano State

History Of Kano State

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Kano State is a state located in Northern Nigeria. Created on May 27, 1967 from part of the Northern Region, Kano state borders Katsina State to the north-west, Jigawa State to the north-east, Bauchi State to the south-east and Kaduna State to the south-west. The capital of Kano State is Kano.

The state originally included Jigawa State which was made a separate state in 1991.

Subsistence and commercial agriculture is mostly practiced in the outlying districts of the state. Some of the food crops cultivated are millet, cowpeas, sorghum, maize and rice for local consumption while groundnuts and cotton are produced for export and industrial purposes. During the colonial period and several years after the country’s independence, the groundnuts produced in the state constituted one of the major sources revenue of the country. Kano State is a major producer of hides and skins, sesame, soybean, cotton, garlic, gum arabic and chili pepper.

Tourism

The tourist attractions in the state include:

  • Kurmi Market established in the 15th century,
  • Kano’s centuries-old city wall,
  • Gidan Rumfa (Emir’s Palace, the oldest continuous site of authority in Nigeria)
  • kano zoo. Zoo road
Plateau State

History Of Plateau State

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Plateau is the twelfth-largest state in Nigeria. Approximately in the centre of the country, it is geographically unique in Nigeria due to its boundaries of elevated hills surrounding the Jos Plateau its capital, and the entire plateau itself.

Plateau state has been adjusted to its present borders many times. Colonial manipulation was from a desire to protect the railway construction and guarantee safe passage of mined tin to the coast.[citation needed] There was also an attempt initially to create a province of largely non-Muslims under one Resident.[citation needed] Later alterations came from strong local desires for self-government.[citation needed]

The British began to exert colonial control of Nigeria in the early 20th century. At that time, much of Plateau State was part of Bauchi Province. In 1926, Plateau Province, made up of Jos and Pankshin Divisions, was carved out of Bauchi. The border changed several times in subsequent years as the government sought not to split ethnic groups. In May 1967, Benue and Plateau Provinces were merged to form the large Benue-Plateau State. At this time Nigeria had twelve states.

Following the civil war, Benue-Plateau State was one of several large states which were further split up following pressure on the Federal Government. Under the military administration of General Yakubu Gowon, the country was further divided into nineteen states in 1976 and Plateau State was created from Benue-Plateau covering the area of the original Plateau Province. In 1996, Plateau State was further subdivided to create Nasarawa State which was carved out of the western half of Plateau State by Sani Abacha’s military regime.

Tin mining activities began in 1902 under the British and continue to the present day.

Kaduna State

History Of Kaduna State

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The word Kaduna is said to be a corruption of a Gbagyi word/name for a river. Another version of the etymology of the name is a narrative linked to the Hausa word for crocodile – but this is contested by the Gbagyi people known to have lived in the area for centuries. It is therefore indicative that the name, Kaduna, was taken up by Lord Frederick Lugard and his colonial colleagues when they moved the capital of the then Northern Region from Zungeru to Kaduna in 1916. This move of the colonial office to Kaduna started in 1912-1918/20 with the initial effort having been made in 1902 from Jebba to Zungeru.

At the start of British colonial rule in northern Nigeria the people groups who live in the area became ‘Northern Nigerians’- a construct which continues even today. By 1967 these people groups again were carved into ‘North Central State’; this was the case until 1975 that ‘Kaduna State’ was formerly created by the then military leader, Gen. Murtala Mohammed, with all distinct identities amalgamated into one state without a referendum. The state hence is the successor of the old Northern Region of Nigeria, which had its capital at Kaduna which is now the state capital to about 6.3 million people (Nigerian census figure, 2006).

In 1967, the old Northern Region was divided into six states in the north, leaving Kaduna as the capital of North-Central State, whose name was changed to Kaduna State in 1976. Meanwhile, Kaduna State was further divided in 1987, creating Katsina State. Under the governance of Kaduna are the ancient cities of Zaria, Kafanchan, and Nok, the area where Africa’s earliest civilization is recorded to have been excavated. The most intriguing aspect of this area is that the colonial construction and its post-colonial successor called ‘Nigeria’ hardly documented the history or the method of how Kaduna state’s people groups encompassed in these constructs define and identify themselves as such the people groups who populate the area have lived in near oblivion or obscurity as they often are thought of as Hausa people.

The current governor of Kaduna state is Mallam Nasir El-Rufa’i.

Rivers State

History Of Rivers State

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Rivers State, also known simply as Rivers, is one of the 36 states of Nigeria.

Rivers State, named after the many rivers that border its territory, was part of the Oil Rivers Protectorate from 1885 till 1893, when it became part of the Niger Coast Protectorate. In 1900 the region was merged with the chartered territories of the Royal Niger Company to form the colony of Southern Nigeria. The state was formed in 1967 with the split of the Eastern Region of Nigeria. In 1996 the state lost territory to form Bayelsa State.

In the early days of the colonial period, several protection treaties were signed between various indigenous communities and the British colonial government. Between 1941 and 1952, agitation for the creation of Rivers province began with the formation of the Ijo Rivers People’s League. By 1953, the Council of Rivers Chiefs was birthed as a replacement body for the League, the same year, another organisation, the Calabar Ogoja Rivers (COR) State Movement became existent.

The Council of Rivers Chiefs was later renamed in 1954 to Rivers Chiefs and People’s Congress and in 1956, the organisation became known as the Rivers Chiefs People’s Conference. Until 1958, hopes of an independent state resonated with the region, and lingered consistently in the minds of its natives. During the constitutional conference that year, the country’s nationhood was affirmed while an agreement was reached on some measures to mitigate the fears of the ethnic minorities in the area. Around this time, the COR State Movement had broken away to press their own case. Thereafter, the British launched a commission led by Sir Henry Willink to look into the misgivings of these autochthons. The Willink Commission initiated the conception of the Niger Delta Development Board (NDDB). The purpose was to tackle the problems of underdevelopment, however, this failed to rise to the expectations of the masses. After much discontent, some of the people attempted to take the extralegal route to achieve their goals.

In February 1966, Isaac Boro, Sam Owonaro and Nottingham Dick alongside their supporters proclaimed a “Delta People’s Republic”. The rebellion was immediately crushed by the Federal and the old Eastern Nigeria government. On 27 May 1967, under the administration of General Yakubu Gowon, decree No. 14 was issued, allowing the creation of Rivers State. From then on, complaints about political marginalisation, environmental degradation and economic pauperisation remained among the Ijaw groups, such that a separate Bayelsa State was carved out of Rivers State by the military government during 1996.

Jigawa State

History Of Jigawa State

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Jigawa is a state in northwestern Nigeria. Its capital is Dutse.

Location
Jigawa State is one of thirty-six states that constitute Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is situated in the northwestern part of the country between latitudes 11.00°N to 13.00°N and longitudes 8.00°E to 10.15°E. Kano State and Katsina State border Jigawa to the west, Bauchi State to the east and Yobe State to the northeast. To the north, Jigawa shares an international border with Zinder Region in The Republic of Niger, which is a unique opportunity for cross-border trading activities. The government readily took advantage of this by initiating and establishing a free trade zone at the border town of Maigatari in Niger.

Topography
 The state has a total land area of approximately 22,410 square kilometres. Its topography is characterized by undulating land, with sand dunes of various sizes spanning several kilometres in parts of the State. The southern part of Jigawa comprises the basement complex while the northeast is made up of sedimentary rocks of the Chad Formation. The main rivers are Hadejia, Kafin Hausa and Iggi Rivers with a number of tributaries feeding extensive marshlands in north-eastern part of the State. Hadejia – Kafin Hausa River traverses the state from west to east through the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands and empties into the Lake Chad Basin.

Sokoto State

History Of Sokoto State

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Sokoto, usually referred to as Sokoto State to distinguish it from the city of Sokoto, is located in the extreme northwest of Nigeria, near to the confluence of the Sokoto River and the Rima River.

Since its creation as a state in 1976 (from the bifurcation of the erstwhile North-Western State (Map) into Sokoto and Niger States, Sokoto state has been ruled by governors, most ex-military officers, who succeeded each another at short intervals.

Sokoto, as a region, knows a longer history. During the reign of the Fulani Empire in the 19th century Sokoto was an important Fula state, in addition to being a city, of what was then west central Nigeria.

From ca. 1900, with the British take-over, Sokoto, which then encompassed the entire north-west corner of Nigeria, became a province of the British protectorate of Nigeria. Not long after Gando was added as a sub-province. This double province then covered an area of 90,000 square kilometres (35,000 sq mi) with an estimated population over 500,000. It included the then Zamfara and Argunga, or Kebbi, kingdoms.