Adamawa

Adamawa is a north-eastern Nigerian state bordering Cameroon, known as the seat of the Lamido Adamawa, whose palace stands in the state capital, Yola. The population is highly diverse, including Fulani, Bachama, Higgi (Kamwe), Mbula, Chamba and dozens of other groups, with Islam and Christianity both widely practised. The state is associated with the Mandara Mountains and Mambilla-adjacent highlands, cattle rearing, and cross-border trade with Cameroon. Since the mid-2010s parts of southern and northern Adamawa have been affected by the Boko Haram insurgency, which displaced residents and disrupted farming and trade, though Yola itself and much of the state have continued functioning. Adamawa is also known for its cultural festivals tied to the Lamido's court and its role as a historic gateway between the Sokoto Caliphate's eastern emirates and the Cameroonian grasslands.

The area now called Adamawa was organised in the early nineteenth century as Adamawa Emirate, founded by Modibbo Adama following the 1804 jihad led by Usman dan Fodio, becoming one of the largest emirates of the Sokoto Caliphate and extending into present-day Cameroon. Colonial partition split the emirate between British and German (later French) spheres, with Yola falling under British Northern Nigeria and administered within Adamawa Province. After independence the area was part of the North-Eastern State and then Gongola State from 1976. Adamawa State was created on 27 August 1991 when Gongola State was split into Adamawa and Taraba states. The Lamido Adamawa, based in Yola, remains a leading traditional ruler in the region, continuing a lineage descended from Modibbo Adama.

Adamawa lies in the Sudan and Guinea savanna belts, rising toward the Mandara Mountains along the Cameroon border and, in its southern reaches, toward the Adamawa Plateau highlands. The Benue River and its tributaries, including the Gongola, drain the state, supporting fishing and floodplain farming. Rainfall is markedly seasonal, roughly 700-1,000mm a year, concentrated between May and October, with a long dry season affected by the Harmattan wind from December to February. Vegetation ranges from grassland and savanna woodland in the lowlands to montane grassland at higher elevations. The state experiences occasional flooding along river floodplains in the wet season and, in its border areas, has faced security-related disruption that has affected access to farmland and grazing routes.

Agriculture is the mainstay of Adamawa's economy, with farmers growing maize, sorghum, millet, groundnuts, cotton and rice, alongside cattle, sheep and goat rearing by Fulani pastoralists. The state has a cotton ginnery and other small-scale agro-processing, and Yola serves as a regional trading hub linking Adamawa to Cameroon and neighbouring Nigerian states. Fishing along the Benue and Gongola rivers supports many households. Public sector employment, centred on the state government and Modibbo Adama University in Yola, is a significant employer, alongside trade and transport. Insecurity linked to Boko Haram has disrupted farming and markets in some local government areas, affecting output and livelihoods in the affected districts.