CELEBRATING BAUCHI STATE AT 40 YEARS

MAP OF NIGERIA SHOWING BAUCHI STATE

It is with great pleasure and love for my state that i want to commemorate the 40^th anniversary of the creation of our great state even though it came a bit late, but it is better late than never

Bauchi State, christened as the pearl of tourism and Mecca of sports will this Wednesday be celebrating 40 years of its existence after it was carved out from the then North Eastern State, on 3rd February, 1976.

Bauchi State with a population of over 4.6 million based on the 2006 national head count is recognized as home to stakeholders in the country who have shaped the history of this great nation.

Bauchi is a state synonymous with politicians of great repute as it is the proud state that has produced the first and only Prime Minister that Nigeria ever had.

It is equally home to the famous Yankari Resort which is tourists’ delight any time of the year with the wonderful Wikki Warm Spring that has constant temperature of 31 degree centigrade.

Formerly Game Reserve, Yankari Resort and Safari had its idea conceived in 1956 by the defunct Northern Nigerian Government which was realized in 1964 when it was also demarcated as protected area under the Bauchi native authority.
Yankari Game Reserve which covers an area of 2, 244 square kilometers of protected area that has one of the richest concentrations of wild life in the country had its doors opened to tourists also in 1964.

ELEPHANTS INSIDE THE YANKARI GAME

Bauchi In the 40 years of its existence as a state which is largely agrarian has witnessed the good, bad and ugly in its transformation journey to greatness with numerous developmental strides in virtually all spheres of human endeavor in meeting the yearnings and aspirations of its citizens.

Bauchi is a city in northeast Nigeria, the capital of Bauchi State, of the Bauchi Local Government Area within that State, and of the traditional Bauchi Emirate. It is located on the northern edge of the Jos Plateau, at an elevation of 616 m. The city has a population of 301,284 (2012). The Local Government Area covers an area of 3,687 km² and had a population of 493,810 at the time of the 2006 Census.

According to tradition, it was named for a hunter known as Baushe, who settled in the region before the arrival of Yakubu, the first traditional ruler of Bauchi emirate (founded 1800–10).

In Hausa the word Bauchi means the land of freedom and tourism. Bauchi and Adamawa were the two main sources of freedom and tourism for the Fulani empire of Sokoto.

History

What is now known as Bauchi was until 1976 a province in the then North-Eastern State of Nigeria. According to the 2006 census, the state has a population of 4,653,066.

Bauchi State has gone through tremendous transformation over the years. The Ajawa language was spoken in Bauchi State, but became extinct between 1920 and 1940 as speakers switched to Hausa.^[3]

During the colonial era up to independence, it formed part of the Bauchi Plateau of the then Northern Region, until the 1967 state creation exercise, when the Bauchi, Borno, and Adamawa provinces constituted the former North-Eastern State.

With the creation of Bauchi State in 1976, then comprising present Bauchi and Gombe States, it included 16 local government areas. The number of local government areas in the then Bauchi State was increased to 20 and later to 23. However, in 1997 when Gombe State was created out of Bauchi and additional local governments were created in the country, Bauchi State was left with 20 local government areas as shown below.

Sharia law was adopted in June 2001.^[4]

The city was founded by Yaqub ibn Dadi, the only non-Fulani flag-bearer of the Sokoto Empire. The name was derived from a hunter called Baushe, who advised Yaqub to build his city west of the Warinje mountain. In return Yaqub promised to name his city after the hunter.

Abubakar Tafawa Balewa is buried in the city, while the Yankari National Park is 110 km from the state capital. The city lies on the Port Harcourt – Maiduguri railway line. The Bauchi State Library Board was established in 1976.

TOMB OF SIR ABUBAKAR TAFAWA BALEWA

List of Governors of Bauchi State

This is a list of administrators and governors of Bauchi State, Nigeria. Bauchi State was formed in 1976-02-03 when North-Eastern State was divided into Bauchi, Borno, and Gongola states.

Name	Title	Took Office	Left Office	Party	Notes
Mohammed Kaliel	Governor	March 1976	July 1978	(Military)
Garba Duba	Governor	July 1978	October 1979	(Military)
Tatari Ali	Governor	October 1979	December 1983	NPN
Mohammed Sani Sami	Governor	January 1984	August 1985	(Military)
Chris Abutu Garuba	Governor	August 1985	December 1987	(Military)
Joshua Madaki	Governor	December 1987	August 1990	(Military)
Abu Ali	Governor	August 1990	January 1992	(Military)
Dahiru Mohammed	Governor	January 1992	November 1993	NRC
James Kalau	Administrator	9 December 1993	14 September 1994	(Military)
Rasheed Adisa Raji	Administrator	14 September 1994	22 August 1996	(Military)
Theophilus Bamigboye	Administrator	22 August 1996	August 1998	(Military)
Abdul Mshelia	Administrator	August 1998	May 1999	(Military)
Adamu Mu'azu	Governor	29 May 1999	29 May 2007	PDP
Isa Yuguda	Governor	29 May 2007	29 May 20	ANPP	Decamped officially to PDP 27 June 2009
Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar	Governor	29 May 2007	Present	APC

Local Government Areas

Bauchi State consists of twenty (20) Local Government Areas (LGAs). They are:

LGA	Area (km2)	Census 2006 population	Administrative capital	Postal code
Bauchi	3,687	493,810	Bauchi	740
Tafawa Balewa	2,515	219,988	Bununu	740
Dass	535	89,943	Dass	740
Toro	6,932	350,404	Toro	740
Gololo	894	84,215	Gololo	741
Ningi	4,625	387,192	Ningi	742
Warji	625	114,720	Warji	742
Ganjuwa	5,059	280,468	Kafin Madaki	742
Kirfi	2,371	147,618	Kirfi	743
Alkaleri	5,918	329,424	Alkaleri	743
Southern region totals	33,161	2,497,782
Darazo	3,015	251,597	Darazo	750
Misau	1,226	263,487	Misau	750
Giade	668	156,969	Giade	750
Shira	1,321	234,014	Yana	750
Jama'are	493	117,883	Jama'are	751
Katagum	1,436	295,970	Azare	751
Itas/Gadau	1,398	229,996	Itas	751
Zaki	1,476	191,457	Katagum	752
Gamawa	2,925	286,388	Gamawa	752
Damban	1,077	150,922	Damban	752
Northern region totals	15,035	2,178,683

Geography

Geography

Bauchi State occupies a total land area of 49,119 km² representing about 5.3% of Nigeria’s total land mass and is located between latitudes 9° 3' and 12° 3' north and longitudes 8° 50' and 11° east.

The state is bordered by seven states, Kano and Jigawa to the north, Taraba and Plateau to the south, Gombe and Yobe to the east and Kaduna to the west.

Bauchi state is one of the states in the northern part of Nigeria that span two distinctive vegetation zones, namely, the Sudan savannah and the Sahel savannah. The Sudan savannah type of vegetation covers the southern part of the state. Here, the vegetation gets richer and richer towards the south, especially along water sources or rivers, but generally the vegetation is less uniform and grasses are shorter than what grows even farther south, that is, in the forest zone of the middle belt.

The Sahel type of savannah, also known as semi-desert vegetation, becomes manifest from the middle of the state as one moves from the state's south to its north. This type of vegetation comprises isolated stands of thorny shrubs.

On the other hand, the southwestern part of the state is mountainous as a result of the continuation of the Jos Plateau, while the northern part is generally sandy.

The vegetation types as described above are conditioned by the climatic factors, which in turn determine the amount of rainfall received in the area. For instance, the rainfall in Bauchi state ranges between 1300 mm per annum in the south and only 700 mm per annum in the extreme north. This pattern is because in the West Africa sub-region, rains generally come from the south as they are carried by the southwesterlies. There is therefore a progressive dryness towards the north, culminating in the desert condition in the far north. So also is the case in Bauchi state.

Population

Bauchi State has a total of 55 tribal groups in which Hausa, Fulani, Gerawa, Sayawa, Jarawa, Kirfawa, Turawa Bolewa, Karekare, Kanuri, Fa'awa, Butawa, Warjawa, Zulawa, and Badawa are the main tribes. This means that they have backgrounds, occupational patterns, beliefs and many other things that form part of the existence of the people of the state.

There are cultural similarities in the people's language, occupational practices, festivals, dress and there is a high degree of ethnic interaction especially in marriage and economic existence. Some of the ethnic groups have joking relationships that exist between them, e.g. Fulani and Kanuri, Jarawa and Sayawa, etc.

may God continue to bless Bauchi state and our country Nigeria. AMEEN