About Borno
Borno State, the ‘Home of Peace’ which was created in 1976, clocked 48 years in 2024 since the split of the former North-Eastern State into six (6) states.
About the State
Borno State, the ‘Home of Peace’ created in 1976, clocked 48 years since the split of the former North-Eastern State in 2024.
It is the only State in Nigeria with 3 International Land borders connecting Nigeria with Niger, Chad, and Cameroun. Its capital and largest city is Maiduguri.
The state motto is ‘Home of Peace’ because the people of Borno are known to be hospitable, accommodating, and charitable.
Borno is the homeland to 27 out of Nigeria’s 774 Local Government Areas [3.488%]. Therefore in terms of governance architecture, Borno State has a Governor, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the state, and 28 Members of the House of Assembly. At the National Assembly, the state is represented by three [3] Senators and ten [10] Members of the House of Representatives.
The State is highly diversified in terms of tribes, with about 33 tribes out of Nigeria’s about 371 tribes [8.89%]. All the tribes have rich cultural heritage which presents immense opportunities for tourism and trade in arts and culture, if properly harnessed.
Key Governance observation from the contextual information here is the importance of diversity and inclusivity to optimize resources and outcomes
Brief History
Borno is the second-largest of Nigeria’s 36 states by area, surpassed only by Niger State. Despite its vast size, Borno ranks as the eleventh most populous state with an estimated population of around 5.86 million as of 2016. The state’s geography is diverse, featuring the semi-desert Sahelian savanna in the north, the West Sudanian savanna in the center and south, and part of the Mandara Plateau in the south east. In the far north east lies the Nigerian portion of Lake Chad and the Lake Chad flooded savanna ecoregion, with the lake being fed by the Yobe River, which marks Borno’s border with Niger.
Central to the state is part of the Chad Basin National Park, home to species like the black crowned crane, spotted hyena, patas monkey, and roan antelope, along with some of Nigeria’s last African bush elephants. However, much of the park, including the Sambisa Forest, became inaccessible in the early 2010s due to the Boko Haram insurgency, forcing many animals to flee. Large fauna sightings were rare until 2019 and 2020, when a herd of migratory elephants returned to Borno.
Borno has long been inhabited by diverse ethnic groups, including the Dghwede, Glavda, Guduf, Laamang, Mafa, and Mandara in central Borno; the Afade, Yedina (Buduma), and Kanembu in the extreme northeast; the Waja in the far south; and the Kyibaku, Kamwe, Kilba, and Margi in the south. The Kanuri and Shuwa Arabs are predominant in the northern and central parts of the state. Religiously, the majority of Borno’s population is Muslim, about 35% Christians mainly concentrated in Southern Borno and very few traditionalist communities.
Historically, the region that is now Borno State was part of the Kanem Borno Empire as early as the 700s, stretching from present-day southern Libya into Chad and Borno. By the late 1300s, following military setbacks, the empire relocated and became known as the Bornu Empire, which remained a dominant force in the region for the next five centuries. The empire began to decline in the early 1800s due to the Fulani jihad. Southern parts of Borno were subsequently absorbed into the Adamawa Emirate under the Sokoto Caliphate. Later, in 1900, the Bornu Empire fell to Rabih az-Zubayr, a Sudanese warlord, until he was defeated by French forces at the Battle of Kousséri. Colonial powers later divided the region, with modern Borno split between British and German territories.
In 1914, the British took control of the whole of present day Nigeria by amalgamating the Northern and Southern protectorates including Borno.