Historical Development
Adamawa State of Nigeria is one of the nine states created on the 27th of
August, 1991. It was carved out of the former Gongola State, with Yola as capital.
In the days of provincial administration in Nigeria, a greater part of the land
area now designated as Adamawa State used to be Adamawa Province with Yola as
the headquarters. Historical records show that some of the disciples of Usman
Dan Fodio like Modibbo Adama and Lamido Kabi founded some of the settlements
that now make up the State as war camps and conquered many other settlements
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AFCOT
Cotton Processing Plant, Ngurore
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The State derives its name from Madibbo Adama, a Fulani leader who led the
19th Century Jihad in Upper Benue Region. Modibbo Adama, the son of Ardo Hassan,
was born at Wuro Chekke in Borno State around 1770. He had his early Islamic
studies under his father and later pro- ceeded to Birnin Ngazargamu, then capital
of Borno Empire, for further studies.
During the Islamic Jihad movement led by
Shehu Usman Dan Fodio in the 19th Century,
Modibbo Adama was recognised as a learned
Moslem who could lead the crusade in the Upper
Benue area. He thus became a flag - bearer under-
taking successive conquests to establish the king-
dom of "Fombina," referred to as Adamawa ruling
family with the Palace of the Lamido, a first - class
Chief, in the heart of the town. The Lamido is the
chairman of the Adamawa Emirate Council.
Probably the first European to visit the area was
Heinrich Barth in 1849, shortly after Yola was found-
ed. He travelled by the Sahara route, coming
through Kukawa, at the time the capital of Bornu.
The Royal Niger Company appeared on the scene
in the 1880s and set up a trading post on the River
Benue a few kilometres from Yola. John Holt
opened warehouses there for exchange of imported
goods with local products. This settlement gradu-
ally grew to form the nucleus of the new town of
Jimeta, which is about 8 km from the old capital of
Yola.
The development of many communities in the
State can be traced to the colonial era when the
Germans ruled the Ganye area in the 19th century.
These were however forfeited to the British at the
end of the scramble for Africa at the Berlin
