Adamawa Past and Present

An Historical Approach to the Development of a Northern Cameroons Province

A. H. M. Kirk-Greene

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN: 9780429949272
• Topic: Scienze sociali
• Subtopic: Antropologia

Originally published in 1958 this book presents a straight-forward and vivid picture of Adamawa Province in Nigeria. It discusses the varying fortunes of the territory, the life of its people, the efforts of its explorers and the achievements of the early administrators. It discusses the geography of the area as well as the political and economic conditions in the first half of the twentieth century, as well as the character and occupations of the Adamawa people.

I

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

BOUNDARIES

ADAMAWA PROVINCE, with an area of 31,786 square miles, is larger than Scotland. It ranks third in size among the Northern Provinces, following after Bornu (45,733 square miles) and Sokoto (36,477 square miles). Its pear-shaped land mass, with an extreme length of 350 miles and a maximum width of 165 miles, occupies the south-eastern corner of the Northern Region of Nigeria and lies between longitude 10° and 14° East. Its southern boundary lies at 6°30’ North, the same latitude as Lagos; thence it marches north-eastwards, with the French Cameroons as its eastern boundary, until it reaches Bornu Province at 11°. Over a short sector between the two Adamawa areas of the Trusteeship Territory of the Northern Cameroons, comprising 10,970 square miles and administered as an integral part of the Province, the boundary is identical with the Anglo-German frontier delimited in 1909; elsewhere the international frontier of the Province is based on the Milner-Simon line of 1919. Within Nigeria, Adamawa marches on the north with the Provinces of Bornu and Bauchi and on the west with Plateau and Benue, while to the south lies the Bamenda Province of the Southern Cameroons.

POPULATION

The administrative capital of the Province is Yola, which with its port and sabon gari offshoot of Jimeta carries a population of just under 20,000. The 1952 census recorded a total population of 1,181,164, of whom 417,200 were in the Trust Territory. Density of population ranges from 210 to the square mile in Cubunawa District to only 3 in Gashaka.

A further breakdown of population statistics is given in Table I. It must be stressed that there is a considerable margin of uncertainty in both the classification and the counting.

TABLE 1

Adamawa Division:162 tribes have been listed at one time or another.

Muri Division:26 tribes have been listed at one time or another.

Numan Division:42 tribes have been listed at one time or another.

Recent returns show the leading tribes thus:

Tribe	Adamawa	Muri	Numan
Fulani	72,442	26,346	5,682
Hausa	19,054	13,300	2,304
Higi	63,745	—	—
Chamba	55,990	2,240	—
Marghi	45,004	—	—
Kilba	32,001	—	—
Gude	28,077	—	—
Fali	23,598	—	—
Bata	22,740	—	3,749
Mambila	18,027	—	—
Yungur	19,600	—	—
Njai	14,069	—	—
Verre	12,281	—	—
Higi-Fali	9,956	—	—
Kanuri	8,941	1,830	587
Sukur	5,052	—	—
Wula	2,871	—	—
Tur	2,522	—	—
Wagga	2,347	—	—
Ga’anda	7,641	—	—
Mumuye	8,364	92,866	2,028
Bura	4,502	—	710
Yendam	4,919	3,234	—
Dakka	4,995	2,940	—
Wurkum	—	24,880	—
Jukun	—	24,387	—
Jen	—	4,946	1,185
Nupe	—	826	259
Bachama	—	2,010	9,273
Ibo	3,030	994	373
Yoruba	—	508	23
Bolewa	—	1,257	—
Laka	—	200	261
Longuda	—	—	13,661
Mbula	—	—	7,861
Kanakuru	—	—	2,790
Lala	—	—	3,220
Piri	—	—	2,071

NATURAL DIVISIONS

Geographically, Adamawa Province may be divided into six principal areas:

(i)The low-lying valley of the Benue river, traversing it from east to west for over 200 miles at only 600 feet above sea level and constituting its major physical feature.

(ii)The northern highlands, rising to peaks of 4,000 feet and embracing the mountainous districts from Lala eastwards to Zummo and northwards to the Gwoza hills.

(iii)The Gongola valley, separating the northern highlands of Adamawa from the Bauchi plateau.

(iv)The southern highlands, including the 3,500-feet Alantika and Mumuye-Dakka ranges.

(v)The high-forest belt of Gashaka.

(vi)The Mambila plateau, boasting a mean altitude of 5,000 feet and summits up to 7,000 feet.

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS

The Province is divided into three administrative Divisions:

(1) Adamawa: area, 18,558 square miles; population, 799,150. It extends the full length of the Province along its eastern boundary from the Bornu border to that of Bamenda Province. The Provincial Headquarters at Yola and all the Trust Territory of the Province lie within Adamawa Emirate, which is coincident with the Division and is divided into 28 districts, ranging in size from Gashaka (4,134 square miles) to Yebbi (57 square miles) and in population from Mubi (77,988) to Belel (5,030). It contains some 50 miles of the Benue valley, the whole of the northern highlands except for the Lala District of Numan Division, the eastern half of the southern highlands, and the entire Gashaka area and Mambila plateau.

(2) Muri: area, 11,014 square miles; population, 260,288. It contains over 100 miles of the Benue valley and the western half of the southern highlands. About a third of the Division lies on the north bank of the Benue and consists of the south-eastern escarpment of the Bauchi plateau, known as the Wurkum hills which rise almost directly from the Benue swamps. There are 11 districts, the largest in area being Bakundi (2,478 square miles) and in population Wurkum (42,000).

(3) Numan: area, 2,214 square miles; population, 121,438. It is encircled by the Adamawa Emirate and Muri Division, save for a brief sector to the north and north-west where it marches with the Biu and Gombe Divisions of Bornu and Bauchi Provinces respectively. The Benue splits the Division from east to west for about 60 miles, while 40 miles of the Gongola valley divide it from north to south. The Division has five districts, of which the largest in both area and population is Bachama, 945 square miles carrying 37,0...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• MAPS
• Foreword
• Preface
• I. General Description
• II. Ethnological Notes
• III. Exploration
• IV. The Royal Niger Company
• V. The British Occupation
• VI. War and Peace
• VII. Some Later Travellers
• VIII. The Development of General Administration
• IX. History of Adamawa Division
• X. History of Muri Division
• XI. History of Numan Division
• XII. Leaves from the Provincial Diary
• XIII. Valediction
• Adamawa Bibliography
• A. The History of Provincial Headquarters
• B. A Note on the Fulani Language
• C. The Farei Festival of Numan Division
• D. An Initiation Ceremony
• E. Some Judicial Oaths in Adamawa
• Index