1.
Order of the Niger
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Nigeria became independent on 1 October 1960 and in 1963 Nigeria became the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The republic instituted two orders of merit, the Order of the Niger and the Order of the Federal Republic. The two highest honours, the Grand Commander in the Order of the Federal Republic and Grand Commander in the Order of the Niger are awarded to the President and Vice-President respectively. The Presiding Judge in the Supreme Court and the Chairman of the Senate are qualitate, the Nigerians have followed the British example in the form and structure of the Order. There are also letters for the members of the Order of the Niger. Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger Commander of the Order of the Niger Officer of the Order of the Niger Member of the Order of the Niger There is a Civil Division, the ribbon of the latter division has a small red line in the middle. World Medals Index, Nigeria, Order of the Niger
2.
Ado Bayero
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Alhaji Dr. Ado Abdullahi Bayero was the Emir of Kano in Nigeria, from 1963 to his death. Bayero was seen as one of Nigerias most prominent and revered Muslim leaders who was a businessman and had worked as a banker, police officer, MP. He was a ambassador to Senegal. He was the son of Abdullahi Bayero son of Muhammad Abbas, Ado Bayero was the 13th Fulani emir since the Fulani War of Usman dan Fodio, when the Fulani took over the Hausa city-states. He was one of the strongest and most powerful emirs in the history of the Hausa land and he was renowned for his abundant wealth, maintained by means of stock market investments and large-scale agricultural entrepreneurship both at home and abroad. Ado Bayero was the son of Abdullahi Bayero, a former emir, Muhammadu Sanusi who was Ado Bayeros half brother ruled after their father from 1953-1963. Following his dethronement in 1963, Muhammadu Inuwa ruled only for three months, after his death, Ado Bayero ascended the throne in October 1963. Bayero was the emir in Kanos history. In 1984, a ban was placed on the emir. Although the military are sometimes seen as relying on traditional rulers for support, Bayero was a former chancellor of the University of Nigeria and served as the chancellor of the University of Ibadan. He has served as the chief of the Kano police and he was installed the Emir of Kano on October 22,1963, becoming the 13th Fulani emir of Kano and the 56th ruler of the Kano Kingdom. He was succeeded by his brothers grandson Muhammadu Sanusi II, Bayero was born to the family of Hajiya Hasiya and Abdullahi Bayero and into the Fulani Sullubawa clan that has presided over the emirate of Kano since 1819. He was the child of his father and the second of his mother. At the age of seven, he was sent to live with Maikano Zagi and he started his education in Kano studying Islam, after which he attended Kano Middle School. He graduated from the School of Arabic Studies in 1947 and he then worked as a bank clerk for the Bank of British West Africa until 1949, when he joined the Kano Native Authority. He attended Zaria Clerical College in 1952, in 1954, he won a seat to the Northern regional House of Assembly. He then became the Nigerian ambassador to Senegal, during this time he enrolled in a French language class. In 1963, he succeeded Muhammadu Inuwa as Emir of Kano, Bayero became emir during the first republic, at a time when Nigeria was going through rapid social and political changes and regional, sub-regional and ethnic discord was increasing
3.
Kano
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Kano is the state capital of Kano State in Northern West, Nigeria. It is situated in the Sahelian geographic region, south of the Sahara, Kano is the commercial nerve center of Northern Nigeria and is the second largest city in Nigeria, after Lagos. The total area of Metropolitan Kano is now 499 square kilometres, the principal inhabitants of the city are the Hausa people. As in most parts of northern Nigeria, the Hausa language is spoken in Kano. The city is the capital of the Kano Emirate, the current emir, Muhammadu Sanusi II, was enthroned on 8 June 2014 after the death of Alhaji Ado Bayero, the thirtienth emir of Kano Emirate, on Friday,6 June 2014. The citys Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, the airport serving northern Nigeria, was named after politician Aminu Kano. Kano was originally known as Dala, after the hill, and was referred to as such as late as the end of the 15th century, the Kano Chronicle identifies Barbushe, a priest of a Dala Hill spirit, as the citys first settler. His grandson Gijimasu, the king, began building city walls at the foot of Dala Hill. His own son, Tsaraki, the king, completed them during his reign. In the 12th century Ali Yaji as King of Kano renounced his allegiance to the cult of Tsumburbura, accepted Islam, the reign of Yaji ensued an era of expansionism that saw Kano becoming the capital of a pseudo Habe Empire. In 1463 Muhammad Rumfa ascended the throne, during his reign, political pressure from the rising Songhai Empire forced him to take Auwa, the daughter of Askiyah the Great as his wife. She was to become the first female Madaki of Kano. Rumfa reformed the city, expanded the Sahelian Gidan Rumfa, and played a role in the further Islamization of the city, the Kano Chronicle attributes a total of twelve innovations to Rumfa. According to the Kano Chronicle, the thirty-seventh Sarkin Kano was Mohammed Sharef and his successor, Kumbari dan Sharefa, engaged in major battles with Sokoto. At the beginning of the 19th century, Fulani Islamic leader Usman dan Fodio led a jihad affecting much of central Sudan, in 1805 the last sultan of Kano was defeated by the Jobe Clan of the Fulani, and Kano became an Emirate of the Caliphate. Kano was the largest and most prosperous province of the empire and this was one of the last major slave societies, with high percentages of enslaved population long after the Atlantic slave trade had been cut off. Heinrich Barth, a German scholar who spent several years in northern Nigeria in the 1850s, estimated the percentage of slaves in Kano to be at least 50%, most of whom lived in slave villages. The city suffered famines from 1807–10, in the 1830s,1847,1855,1863,1873,1884, from 1893 until 1895, two rival claimants for the throne fought a civil war, or Basasa
4.
Kano State
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Kano State is a state located in Northern Nigeria. The capital of Kano State is Kano, the state originally included Jigawa State which was made a separate state in 1991. Subsistence and commercial agriculture is practiced in the outlying districts of the state. Some of the crops cultivated are millet, cowpeas, sorghum, maize and rice for local consumption while groundnuts and cotton are produced for export. During the colonial period and several years after the country’s independence, Kano State is a major producer of hides and skins, sesame, soybean, cotton, garlic, gum arabic and chili pepper. Commercial activities in Kano first developed with the establishment of the Kurmi market by the Emir of Kano Muhammadu Rumfa in the 16th Century CE, subsequent leaders made contributions to the emergence of Kano as a leading commercial center in Sudanic Africa. During the Caliphate period in the 19th century the Emirs Ibrahim Dado and Sulaimanu encouraged traders to move from Katsina, the Jihad leaders of the Caliphate encouraged Kola nut trade and Kano was the greatest beneficiary with an annual turnover of about $30 million. Craft industries also evolved in the pre-colonial period contributing to the prosperity of the province, others include agricultural implements, soft drinks, food and beverages, dairy products, vegetable oil, animal feeds etc. The tourist attractions in the include, Kurmi Market established in the 15th century, Kanos centuries-old city wall. They are, The official language of Kano State is Hausa language, according to the 2006 PON census figures from Nigeria Kano State had a population totaling 9,383,682. Officially, Kano State is the most populous state in the country, the state is mostly populated by Hausa people. States of Nigeria Commercial Agriculture Development Project, national Bureau of Statistics Maps of Kano State
5.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
6.
Gidan Rumfa
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The Gidan Rumfa sometimes called the Gidan Sarki is the palace of the Emir of Kano Known as Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. Located in Kano, Kano State, Nigeria, it was constructed by Muhammad Rumfa in the fifteenth century. It currently has an area of 33 acres, Gidan Rumfa was built in the late fifteenth century at the outskirts of the town of Kano The new building extended the reach of the town and also led to the establishment of the Kurmi market. The palace overs a space of about 33 acres and is built on opens plains, the structure is rectangular in shape and its landscape ecology can be divided into three classifications, open spaces, gardens and living quarters/built up areas. Structures within the quarters and built up areas include the Kofar Kudu or Southern gate, offices, mosque, Soron ingila, royal courtrooms. The space surrounding the structure is dominated by gardens, london, Adonis & Abbey Publishers Ltd
7.
Kano Emirate Council
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The Kano Emirate is a traditional state in Northern Nigeria with headquarters in the city of Kano, capital of the modern Kano State. Preceded by the Emirate of Kano the Council was formed in 1903 after the British pacification of the Sokoto Caliphate, on 8 June 2014, former Nigerian central banker Muhammadu Sanusi II was selected to succeed Bayero as Emir of Kano. British forces captured Kano in 1903, the 7th emir of Kano, who was in Sokoto when Kano was occupied, was captured and exiled to Lokoja where he died in 1926. The British immediately made Kano an important administrative centre in Northern Nigeria, the role of the Kano Emirate steadily grew in the new Northern Nigeria. In 1963, alligations of fraud and misappropriation were laid against the Emir of Kano Sanusi Bayero, a panel headed by D M Muffet later found evidence of misappropriation and recommended the resignation of Sanusi. Immediately afterwards, Emir Sanusi abdicated and was replaced his uncle Inuwa Abbas who reigned for nine months before his death. The abdication of Sanusi led to agitation of Kanoan Independence and led to the emergence of the Kano Peoples Party, Inuwa was succeeded by his nephew Ado Bayero who reigned for 50 years before his death on 6 June 2014. Various administrative re-organisations in Bayeros reign saw a gradual weaning of the Emirs powers, although the Emir has limited formal powers, he continues to exert considerable authority and provides leadership on issues such as the tension between Christians and Muslims in Northern Nigeria. Under the British indirect administrative structure the Emir was the sole Native Authority subordinate to the supervision of the British Colonial Resident. The Cargill re-organization made each Hakimi to have a territory where he resided at the headquarters and administered on behalf of the Emir. The British encouraged the production of commodities for export as raw materials for British industries, in Kano groundnut and cotton were encouraged. Kano Province became the largest producer of groundnut in Nigeria and by the 1960s during good harvest it was producing about half million tons of the commodity. The export of cotton was not as high as groundnut because the local textile craftsmen used it later when their products became less competitive compared to imported items. The railway was a facilitator of colonial economic transformation. It reached Kano in 1912 and it helped the province to maintain its economic edge over other provinces, Emirs during and after the colonial period, Muhammad Abbass Usman II Abdullahi Bayero Muhammadu Sanusi Muhammad Inuwa Ado Bayero Muhammadu Sanusi II List of rulers of Kano
8.
Central Bank of Nigeria
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The Central Bank of Nigeria was established by the CBN Act of 1958 and commenced operations on July 1,1959. The central banks role as lender of last resort and adviser to the government has sometimes pushed it into murky regulatory waters. The bank soon became involved in lending directly to consumers, contravening its original intention to work through commercial banks in activities involving consumer lending, however, the policy was an offspring of the indigenisation policy at the time. In 1948, an inquiry under the leadership of G. D Paton was established by the administration to investigate banking practices in Nigeria. Prior to the inquiry, the industry was largely uncontrolled. The G. D Paton report, an offshoot of the inquiry became the cornerstone of the first banking legislation in the country, the ordinance was designed to prevent non viable banks from mushrooming, and to ensure orderly commercial banking. The banking ordinance triggered a growth in the industry, with growth also came disappointment. By 1958, a few number of banks had failed, to curtail further failures and to prepare for indigenous control, in 1958, a bill for the establishment of Central Bank of Nigeria was presented to the House of Representatives of Nigeria. The Act was fully implemented on July 1,1959, when the Central Bank of Nigeria came into full operation, in April 1960, the Bank issued its first treasury bills. In May 1961 the Bank launched the Lagos Bankers Clearing House, by July 1,1961 the Bank had completed issuing all denominations of new Nigerian notes and coins and redeemed all of the West African Currency Boards previous money. The central banks initial lack of competence over the finance ministry led to deferment of major economic decisions to the finance ministry. A key instrument of the bank was to credit limit legislation for bank lending. The initiative was geared to make available to neglected national areas such as agriculture. By the end of 1979, most of the banks did not adhere to their credit limits, the central bank did not effectively curtail the prevalence of short term loan maturities. Most loans given out by commercial banks were set within a year. The major policy to balance this distortion in the market was to create a new Bank of Commerce and industry. However, the new bank did not fulfill its mission, by 1976, the federal government had acquired 40% of equity in the three largest commercial banks. The banks slow reaction to curtail inflation by financing huge deficits of the government has been one of the sore points in the history of the central bank
9.
President of Nigeria
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The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the head of state and head of the national executive of Nigeria. The President of Nigeria is also the commander-in-chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, the President is elected in national elections which take place every four years. The first President of Nigeria was Nnamdi Azikiwe, who took office on 1 October 1963, the current President, Muhammadu Buhari, took office on 29 May 2015 as the 15th President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. On October 1,1960, Nigeria gained independence from Britain, an all-Nigerian Executive Council was headed by a Prime Minister, Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. On November 16,1960, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, became the first Governor-General of a Federation of three Regions of the North, East and West, with Lagos as the Federal Capital, each of the Regions was headed by a Premier with a Governor as Ceremonial Head. On October 1,1963, Nigeria became a Federal Republic, Nigeria decided, however, to remain in the British Commonwealth of Nations. The Governor-Generals position was, therefore, re-designated as President, nzeogwu was countered, captured and imprisoned by General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi. General Aguiyi-Ironsi was named Military Head of State, in 1975, General Yakubu Gowon was deposed and General Murtala Mohammed was the Head of the Federal Military Government of Nigeria until his assassination in 1976. In 1976, General Olusegun Obasanjo was made head of state in a meeting of the Supreme Military Council, keeping the chain of command established by Murtala Muhammed in place. In 1979, Nigeria adopted a constitution that was modelled on the Constitution of the United States, the presidency was made an executive posts, with powers similar to those of his American counterpart. In October 1979, after more than 13 years of military rule, the National Party of Nigeria emerged victorious in the presidential election and Alhaji Shehu Shagari was elected President. On December 31,1983, the military overthrew the Second Republic, Major General Muhammadu Buhari emerged as the Chairman of the Supreme Military Council, the new Head of State. In August 1985, General Buharis government was overthrown by Army Chief of Staff. Babangida became the President and Chairman of the Armed Forces Ruling Council, in August 1993, General Babangida stepped down and chose an interim government to replace him. Ernest Shonekan was named as interim president, General Sani Abacha seized power from Shonekan in November 1993 and became the President and Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council. On 8 June 1998, General Abacha died at the villa in the Nigerian capital. Major General Abdulsalami Abubakar became the new President and Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council, in May 1999, Major General Abdulsalami Abubakar stepped down, and the former military head of state, Olusegun Obasanjo, became the newly elected civilian president. Obasanjo served two terms in office, in May 2007, Alhaji Umaru YarAdua was sworn in as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the 13th head of state of Nigeria
10.
Goodluck Jonathan
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Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan GCFR BNER GCON is a former President of Nigeria, having served from 2010 to 2015. He served as Vice-President of Nigeria from 2007 to 2010 and as Governor of Bayelsa State from 2005 to 2007 and he contested and lost the 2015 presidential election, upon which he conceded defeat and became the first sitting Nigerian president to do so. Jonathans term as President of Nigeria ended on 29 May 2015, Jonathan was born in what is now Bayelsa State to a family of canoe makers. Jonathan holds a B. Sc. degree in Zoology in which he attained Second Class Honours and he holds an M. Sc. degree in Hydrobiology and Fisheries biology, and a PhD degree in Zoology from the University of Port Harcourt. Before he entered politics in 1998, he worked as an inspector, lecturer. Jonathan and his wife Patience have two children and he is a Christian, and he comes from the Ijaw ethnic group. In 2007, President Jonathan declared his assets worth a total of ₦295,304,420 Naira, however, on 9 October 2014, the richestlifestyle. com website ranked Mr Jonathan sixth on its list, claiming his net worth was about $100m. He threatened to sue the website, claiming it was an attempt to portray him as corrupt, the page was removed, but was then published by another website which estimated Jonathans net wealth at $10 million. On 29 May 1999, Jonathan was sworn in as Deputy Governor of Bayelsa alongside Diepreye Alamieyeseigha who named in as the governor of the state on the platform of PDP, Jonathan served as Deputy Governor until December 2005. The report proved to be false, the head of the EFCC stated that Mrs. Jonathan was not in any way involved in any case of money laundering investigated by the EFCC. As Vice-President, Jonathan took a low profile. On 10 February 2010, during his first day as acting president, prince Adetokunbo Kayode, who was the Labour Minister, was named Minister of Justice, to replace Mr Mike Aondoakaa. Aondoakaa was named as the Minister of Special Duties, and his counterpart Ibrahim Kazaure was named Minister of Labour, acting President Jonathan also promised to continue implementing the Seven-point agenda policy framework of President Umaru Musa Yar’adua. He cited anti-corruption, power and electoral reforms as focuses of his administration and he stated that he came to office under very sad and unusual circumstances. On 18 May 2010, the National Assembly approved Jonathans nomination of former Kaduna State governor, Namadi Sambo, for the position of Vice-President. On 15 September 2010, Jonathan announced on Facebook that he had decided to run for office on his own for the first time. In the contest for the Peoples Democratic Party nomination, Goodluck Jonathan was up against the former vice-president Atiku Abubakar, on 13 January 2011 the primary election results were announced in Eagle Square, Abuja. Jonathan was declared winner with a victory in two-thirds of the states of the Federation counted, for the general election in 2011, Jonathan and Vice-President Sambo attended political events and travelled the country to campaign for the nations highest office
11.
World Economic Forum
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The World Economic Forum is a Swiss nonprofit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva. The Forum is best known for its meeting at the end of January in Davos. The meeting brings together some 2,500 top business leaders, international leaders, economists. Often this location alone is used to identify meetings, participation, and participants with such phrases as, a Davos panel, beside meetings, the foundation produces a series of research reports and engages its members in sector specific initiatives. The forum was founded in 1971 by Klaus Schwab, a German-born business professor at the University of Geneva and he then founded the WEF as a nonprofit organization based in Geneva and drew European business leaders to Davos for the annual meetings each January. Political leaders soon began to use the meeting as a neutral platform. The Davos Declaration was signed in 1988 by Greece and Turkey, in 1992, South African President F. W. de Klerk met with Nelson Mandela and Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi at the annual meeting, their first joint appearance outside South Africa. At the 1994 annual meeting, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat reached an agreement on Gaza. In late 2015, the invitation was extended to include a North Korean delegation for the 2016 forum, in view of positive signs coming out of the country, North Korea has not been attending the WEF since 1998. In 2017, the World Economic Forum in Davos attracted considerable attention when for the first time and he sharply rebuked the current populist movements that would introduce tariffs and hinder global commerce, warning that such protectionism could foster isolation and reduced economic opportunity. Headquartered in Cologny, the forum also has offices in New York, Beijing, on October 10,2016, the Forum announced the opening of its new Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in San Francisco. The World Economic Forum strives to be impartial and is not tied to any political, partisan, the foundation is committed to improving the State of the World. Until 2012, it had observer status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, the foundations highest governance body is the foundation board. During its annual meeting, more than 2,500 participants from slightly fewer than 100 countries gather in Davos, approximately 1,500 are business leaders, drawn from its members,1,000 of the worlds top companies. The foundation is funded by its 1,000 member companies and these enterprises rank among the top companies within their industry and/or country and play a leading role in shaping the future of their industry and/or region. Membership is stratified by the level of engagement with forum activities, with the level of membership fees increasing as participation in meetings, projects, and initiatives rises. As of 2011, an annual membership costs $52,000 for a member, $263,000 for Industry Partner. An admission fee costs $19,000 per person, in 2014, WEF raised annual fees by 20 percent, making the cost for Strategic Partner from SFr500,000 to SFr600,000
12.
Fula people
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The Fula people or Fulani or Fulɓe, numbering between 20 and 25 million people in total, are one of the largest and a widely dispersed Muslim ethnic group in Sahel and West Africa. The Fula people are believed to have roots in the people from North Africa and the Middle East. As an ethnic group they are bound together by the Fula language, culture, history, their religious affiliation and their efforts to spread Islam in Sahel region and the West Africa. A significant proportion of the Fula – a third, or an estimated 7 to 8 million – are pastoral people, the majority of the Fula ethnic group consisted of semi-sedentary people, as well as sedentary settled farmers, artisans, merchants and nobility. Spread over many countries, they are mainly in West Africa and northern parts of Central Africa. Many Fulbe was also taken to the New World during 16th to 19th century Atlantic Slave Trade and they were largely captured from the Senegal and Guinea with a significant percentage also taken from Mali and Cameroon. Some of the Fulbe of note were Bilali Muhammad, Ayuba Diallo, Salih Bilali, Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori, some of Bilali Muhammads known descendants still live on Salepo Island Georgia and he also left descendants in the Bahama Archipelago who are not known. Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori and many others have many descendants in the USA, there are many names used in other languages to refer to the Fulɓe. Fulani in English is borrowed from the Hausa term, Fula, from Manding languages, is also used in English, and sometimes spelled Fulah or Fullah. Fula and Fulani are commonly used in English, including within Africa, the French borrowed the Wolof term Pël, which is variously spelled, Peul, Peulh, and even Peuhl. More recently the Fulfulde / Pulaar term Fulɓe, which is a noun has been Anglicised as Fulbe. In Portuguese, the terms Fula or Futafula are used, the terms Fallata Fallatah or Fellata are of Kanuri origins, and are often the ethnonyms by which Fulani people are identified by in Sudan. The Fula people are distributed, across the Sahel from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea. Alongside, many speak other languages of the countries they inhabit. Such languages include Hausa, Bambara, Wolof, and Arabic and this is the area known as the Fombina, literally meaning The South in Adamawa Fulfulde, because it represented the most southern and eastern reaches of Fulɓe hegemonic dominance in West Africa. In this area, Fulfulde is the lingua franca. Further east of this area, Fulani communities become predominantly nomadic, the Fulani People occupy a vast geographical expanse located roughly in a longitudinal East-West band immediately south of the Sahara, and just north of the coastal rain forest and swamps. There are an estimated 20-25 million Fulani people, there are generally three different types of Fulani based on settlement patterns, viz, the Nomadic/Pastoral or Mbororo, The Semi-Nomadic and the Settled or Town Fulani
13.
Islamic studies
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Islamic studies is the academic study of Islam and Islamic culture. Islamic studies can be seen under at least two perspectives, From a secular or neutral point of view, Islamic studies do academic research on Islam and Islamic culture independent of faith. In this respect, Islamic studies neither engage in shaping Muslim faith by making Islamic theology, from a Muslim point of view, Islamic studies also do academic research on Islam and Islamic culture, but from a faithful perspective. Historically, both perspectives had been separated by the separation of the Western and Islamic worlds. They differed in their understanding of academia and were organized either in universities or madrasas, scholars of Islamic studies are called by their special field of study, as e. g. historian, sociologist, or political scientist, or in general a scholar of Islamic studies. The professional title Islamicist is dated, scholars of Islamic studies from a faithful point of view can be historians etc. too, yet they also can be called Muslim scholar, teacher of religion, cleric, or Ulama. In a Muslim context, Islamic studies is the term for the Islamic sciences. Specialists in the discipline apply methods adapted from several fields, ranging from Biblical studies and classical philology to modern history, legal history. Scholars in the field of academic Islamic studies are often referred to as Islamicists, in fact, some of the more traditional Western universities still confer degrees in Arabic and Islamic studies under the primary title of Oriental studies. This is the case, for example, at the University of Oxford, the first attempt to understand Islam as a topic of modern scholarship was within the context of 19th-century Christian European Oriental studies. Some orientalists praised the tolerance of Islamic countries in contrast with the Christian West. In the 2nd half of the 19th century, philological and historical approaches were predominant, leading in the field were German researchers like Theodore Nöldeke s study on the history of the Quran, or Ignaz Goldziher s work on the prophetic tradition. Western orientalists and Muslim scholars alike preferred to interpret the history of Islam in a conservative way and they did not question the traditional account of the early time of Islam, of Muhammad and how the Quran was written. To understand the history of Islam provides the basis to understand all aspects of Islam. Themes of special interest are, Historiography of early Islam History of the Quran Historicity of Muhammad Early Muslim conquests Kalam is one of the sciences of Islam. In Arabic, the word means discussion and refers to the Islamic tradition of seeking theological principles through dialectic, a scholar of kalam is referred to as a mutakallim. Islamic eschatology Sufism is a tradition of Islam based on the pursuit of spiritual truth as it is gradually revealed to the heart. It might also be referred to as Islamic mysticism, while other branches of Islam generally focus on exoteric aspects of religion, Sufism is mainly focused on the direct perception of truth or God through mystic practices based on divine love
14.
The Banker
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The Banker is an English-language monthly international financial affairs publication owned by The Financial Times Ltd. and edited in London. The magazine was first published in January 1926 through founding Editor, Brendan Bracken of the Financial News, since its founding, the magazine has claimed a dedication to the international perspective through features, interviews, multi-media applications and events. The Banker is the premier banking and finance resource, read in over 180 countries and is the key source of data. The Banker is read most widely in banks, financial institutions, multilateral corporations, central banks, approximately 60% of its readers are CEO/President and CFO/Treasurers of their organizations. The Bankers primary focus is global financial comment and insight, featuring opinion pieces, profiles and interviews with leading banking, the Bracken Column is named after Brendan Bracken, the founding editor of The Banker and serves as a think-tank for financial sector participants. The Bank of the Year Awards is an awards event recognising the top financial institutions in the world. The most recent event took place in December 2012 and 149 countries were acknowledged for their achievements, top 1000 World Banks is published annually in July based on the findings of The Banker Database. This ranking serves to recognise global leaders in the industry for their achievements, ranking the worlds banks by Tier 1 capital globally, as well as by individual country. The awards are the industry’s most widely used index of global banking, the banks are assessed by Tier 1 capital, with secondary rankings by assets, capital/asset ratio, real profit growth, profit on average capital, and return on assets. In 2013 ICBC was ranked in top place, the first time ever for a Chinese bank, how to Run a Bank is an annual guide to international banking in the new financial environment, combining contributions from bankers, regulators, academics and economists. Top Islamic Financial Institutions annual listing assesses the state of the Islamic banking. Since 2007, it has aimed to help estimate the size, on 8 January 2014, it was announced that Irelands Michael Noonan was awarded Best finance minister in Europe. The Banker is known for its rankings of the worlds top banks
15.
Time (magazine)
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Time is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It was founded in 1923 and for decades was dominated by Henry Luce, a European edition is published in London and also covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong, the South Pacific edition, which covers Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, is based in Sydney, Australia. In December 2008, Time discontinued publishing a Canadian advertiser edition, Time has the worlds largest circulation for a weekly news magazine, and has a readership of 26 million,20 million of which are based in the United States. As of 2012, it had a circulation of 3.3 million making it the eleventh most circulated magazine in the United States reception room circuit, as of 2015, its circulation was 3,036,602. Richard Stengel was the editor from May 2006 to October 2013. Nancy Gibbs has been the editor since October 2013. Time magazine was created in 1923 by Briton Hadden and Henry Luce, the two had previously worked together as chairman and managing editor respectively of the Yale Daily News. They first called the proposed magazine Facts and they wanted to emphasize brevity, so that a busy man could read it in an hour. They changed the name to Time and used the slogan Take Time–Its Brief and it set out to tell the news through people, and for many decades the magazines cover depicted a single person. More recently, Time has incorporated People of the Year issues which grew in popularity over the years, notable mentions of them were Barack Obama, Steve Jobs, Matej Turk, etc. The first issue of Time was published on March 3,1923, featuring Joseph G. Cannon, the retired Speaker of the House of Representatives, on its cover, a facsimile reprint of Issue No. 1, including all of the articles and advertisements contained in the original, was included with copies of the February 28,1938 issue as a commemoration of the magazines 15th anniversary. The cover price was 15¢ On Haddens death in 1929, Luce became the dominant man at Time, the Intimate History of a Publishing Enterprise 1923–1941. In 1929, Roy Larsen was also named a Time Inc. director, J. P. Morgan retained a certain control through two directorates and a share of stocks, both over Time and Fortune. Other shareholders were Brown Brothers W. A. Harriman & Co. the Intimate History of a Changing Enterprise 1957–1983. According to the September 10,1979 issue of The New York Times, after Time magazine began publishing its weekly issues in March 1923, Roy Larsen was able to increase its circulation by utilizing U. S. radio and movie theaters around the world. It often promoted both Time magazine and U. S. political and corporate interests, Larsen next arranged for a 30-minute radio program, The March of Time, to be broadcast over CBS, beginning on March 6,1931
16.
Dubai
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Dubai is the largest and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates. It is located on the southeast coast of the Persian Gulf and is the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Dubai are the only two emirates to have veto power over critical matters of national importance in the countrys legislature. The city of Dubai is located on the northern coastline. Dubai will host World Expo 2020, Dubai has emerged as a global city and business hub of the Middle East. It is also a transport hub for passengers and cargo. By the 1960s, Dubais economy was based on revenues from trade and, to an extent, oil exploration concessions. Oil revenue first started to flow in 1969, Dubais oil revenue helped accelerate the early development of the city, but its reserves are limited and production levels are low, today, less than 5% of the emirates revenue comes from oil. The emirates Western-style model of business drives its economy with the main revenues now coming from tourism, aviation, real estate, Dubai was recently named the best destination for Muslim travellers by Salam Standard. Dubai has recently attracted attention through many innovative large construction projects and sports events. The city has become iconic for its skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, in particular the worlds tallest building, Dubai has been criticised for human rights violations concerning the citys largely South Asian and Filipino workforce. As of 2012, Dubai was the 22nd most expensive city in the world, in 2014, Dubais hotel rooms were rated as the second most expensive in the world, after Geneva. Dubai was rated as one of the best places to live in the Middle East by U. S. global consulting firm Mercer, Many theories have been proposed as to the origin of the word Dubai. One theory suggests the word was used to describe the souq, another theory states that the name came from a word meaning money, as people from Dubai were commonly believed to be rich due to the thriving trading centre of the location. An Arabic proverb says Daba Dubai, meaning They came with a lot of money, according to Fedel Handhal, a scholar on the UAEs history and culture, the word Dubai may have come from the word daba, referring to the slow flow of Dubai Creek inland. The poet and scholar Ahmad Mohammad Obaid traces it to the same word, an inhabitant or native of the city is a Dubaian. Although stone tools have been found at archaeological sites, little is known about the UAEs early inhabitants as only a few settlements have been found. Many ancient towns in the area were trading centres between the Eastern and Western worlds, the remnants of an ancient mangrove swamp, dated at 7000 BC, were discovered during the construction of sewer lines near Dubai Internet City. The area was covered with sand about 5,000 years ago as the coast retreated inland, pre-Islamic ceramics have been found from the 3rd and 4th centuries
17.
Islamic banking and finance
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Islamic banking is banking or banking activity that is consistent with the principles of sharia and its practical application through the development of Islamic economics. As such, a correct term for Islamic banking is sharia-compliant finance. Sharia prohibits acceptance of specific interest or fees for loans of money, Investment in businesses that provide goods or services considered contrary to Islamic principles is also haraam. As of 2014, sharia-compliant financial institutions represented approximately 1% of total world assets, an early market economy and an early form of mercantilism, sometimes called Islamic capitalism, was developed between the eighth and twelfth centuries. The monetary economy of the period was based on the widely circulated currency the gold dinar, organizational enterprises independent from the state also existed in the medieval Islamic world, while the agency institution was also introduced during that time. Many of these early capitalist concepts were adopted and further advanced in medieval Europe from the 13th century onwards, the word riba literally means “excess or addition”, and has been translated as interest, usury, excess, increase or addition. According to Shariah terminology, it implies any excess compensation without due consideration, according to Islamic economists Choudhury and Malik by the time of Caliph Umar, the prohibition of interest was a well-established working principle integrated into the Islamic economic system. This interpretation of usury has not been accepted or applied in the Islamic world. The Investor is called Rab ul Maal and the party is termed as Mudarib. Further works specifically devoted to the subject of interest-free banking were authored by Muhammad Uzair, Abdullah al-Araby, Nejatullah Siddiqi, al-Najjar, in the middle of the 20th century some organizational entities were found to offer financial services complying with Islamic laws. The first, experimental, local Islamic bank was established in the late 1950s in a area of Pakistan which charged no interest on its lending. A remarkable effort in sharia-compliant savings banking was undertaken in 1963 in rural Egypt by economist Ahmad Elnaggar to appeal to people who lacked confidence in state-run banks, the experiment was shut down by the government in 1968, but was considered by many a success. By this time there were nine such banks in the country, in 1972, the Mit Ghamr Savings project became part of Nasr Social Bank which, currently, is still in business in Egypt. The influx of petro-dollars and a general following the Yom Kippur War and 1973 oil crisis gave great help to the development of the Islamic banking sector. And since 1975 it has spread the globe, in 1975, the Islamic Development Bank was set up with the mission to provide funding to projects in the member countries. The first modern commercial Islamic bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, was established in 1979, in 1980, government of Pakistan brought in regulatory framework under the caption Modaraba companies and Modarabas and rule made thereunder. The ensuing financial panic led to the bankruptcy of some companies, in 1990 an accounting organization for Islamic financial institutions, was established in Algiers by a group of Islamic financial institutions. By 1995,144 Islamic financial institutions had been established worldwide, including 33 government-run banks,40 private banks, by 2008 Islamic banking was growing at a rate of 10–15% per year and with signs of consistent future growth
18.
Ahmadu Bello University
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Ahmadu Bello University is a federal government research university located in Zaria, Kaduna State. ABU was founded on October 4,1962, as the University of Northern Nigeria, the university operates two campuses, Samaru and Kongo in Zaria. There is also pre-degree School located in Funtua few kilometres away from main campus owned by the university, the Samaru campus houses the administrative offices, faculties of, sciences, social-sciences, arts and languages, education, environmental design, engineering, medical sciences. The Kongo campus hosts the faculties of Law and Administration, the Faculty of Administration consists of Accounting, Business Administration, Local Government and Development Studies and Public Administration Departments. Additionally, the university is responsible for a variety of other institutions, the university is named after the Sardauna of Sokoto, Alhaji Sir Ahmadu Bello, the first premier of Northern Nigeria. The university runs a variety of undergraduate and graduate programs. The university has a medical program with its own A. B. U. Teaching Hospital, one of the largest teaching hospitals in Nigeria, as Nigeria approached independence on October 1,1960, it had only a single university, the University of Ibadan, established in 1948. The important Ashby Commission report recommended adding new universities in each of Nigerias then-three regions, as well as the capital, even before the Commission report, however, the regional governments had begun planning universities. In May,1960, the Northern Region had upgraded the School of Arabic Studies in Kano to become the Ahmadu Bello College for Arabic and Islamic Studies. The Ashby Commission report recommendations gave a new impetus and direction, the law establishing the new university was passed by the Northern Region legislature in 1961. It was decided to name the university after Ahmadu Bello, and the Kano college then took the name of Abdullahi Bayero, at the opening on October 4,1962, thanks in part to absorbing existing institutions, ABU claimed four faculties comprising 15 departments. However, students in all programs numbered only 426, over 60 years of British colonial rule, education in the Northern Region had lagged far behind that of the two southern regions. Few students from the North had qualifications for university entrance, of the original student body, only 147 were from the North. ABUs first vice chancellor was British, as were most of the professorial appointments, only two Nigerians — Dr. Iya Abubakar and Adamu Baikie — were among the earliest round of faculty appointments. Facilities on the main Samaru campus were inadequate, and the administration and integration of the physically separated pre-existing institutions was difficult, by the end of Alexanders tenure, almost 1,000 students were enrolled. In 1966, Dr. Alexander was succeeded as ABU vice chancellor by Dr. Ishaya Shuaibu Audu, Audu had been born in Wusasa, near Zaria, in 1928. A native Hausa, he was ABUs first Nigerian vice chancellor, however, his membership in the Hausa Christian community of Wusasa probably had some later impact on his tenure
19.
Zaria
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Zaria is a major city in Kaduna State in northern Nigeria, as well as being a Local Government Area. Formerly known as Zazzau, it was one of the original seven Hausa city-states, today it is known for housing Nigerias largest university, Ahmadu Bello University, as well as being home to a number of prominent Nigerians. The 2006 Census population was estimated as 406,990 and it is home to the Zazzau Emirate. Zaria, initially known as Zazzau, was the capital of the Hausa kingdom of Zazzau, Zazzau is thought to have been founded in 1536 and later was renamed after Queen Zaria. Human settlement predates the rise of Zazzau, as the region, like some of its neighbors, had a history of sedentary Hausa settlement, with institutional market exchange, Zaria was the most southern of the Hausa city-states. It was a destination for Saharan caravans as well as a prominent city in the Hausa slave trade. In the late 1450s, Islam arrived in Zaria by the way of its sister Habe cities, Kano, at the end of the 16th century, after Queen Aminas death, Zaria fell under the influence of the Jukun Kingdom and eventually became a tributary state itself. Between the fifteenth and sixteenth century the kingdom became a state of the Songhai Empire. In 1805 it was captured by the Fulani during the Fulani Jihad, british forces led by Frederick Lugard took the city in 1901. A French hostage of the Islamist group Ansaru, held captive at Zaria, escaped in 2013, in December 2015, Nigerias military was reported to have killed 300 Shia Muslims and buried their bodies in a mass grave. Although the government denies the event, it has described as a Massacre. The old part of the city, known as Birnin Zazzau or Zaria-City, was surrounded by walls and fortress. The Emirs palace is in the old city, in the old city and the adjacent Tudun Wada neighbourhood people typically reside in traditional adobe compounds. These two neighborhoods are occupied by the indigenous Hausa. The neighborhoods of Samaru and Sabon Gari are predominantly occupied by Nigerians of southern origin and these neighborhoods were formed during the colonial period. The largest marketplace is in Sabon Gari, other more recent neighborhoods include Danmagaji/Wusasa, PZ, Kongo, GRA-Zaria, Hanwa, Bassawa, Lowcost Kofan-Gayan and Shikka. There is great variety in the architecture of Zaria, with buildings made of clay in the Hausa style juxtaposed with modern, multi-storied university, the ward of Anguwan Liman is located north of the Zaria palace. Zarias economy is based on agriculture
20.
International University of Africa
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The International University of Africa is a public University in Khartoum, Sudan. It is a member of the Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World, the university has faculties of Education and Humanities, Shariah and Islamic Studies, of Pure and Applied Sciences, Engineering and medicine. In 1992 the military government of Colonel Omar Al-Bashir upgraded the institute to a university, although the word Islamic was dropped from the title, Islamic studies are an important part of the curriculum. The university has been active in Islamic higher education in sub-Saharan Africa since it was created, some stayed behind either with a shaykh of fleeing religious persecution which set in as a result of European colonization. Others were forced by incessant wars to seek refuge and education in the Sudan, as of 2010 the university had almost 6000 students. Its 93-acre campus is located in the South-Eastern part of Khartoum State, the forerunner of the university known as the African Islamic Center was founded in 1977 or 1978 to train young Africans in Salafist or fundamentalist interpretations of Islam. According to the website, it was set up by a number of scholars. With popular effort, while outside source credit funding to Saudi Arabia and other Arab States of the Persian Gulf, according to the Oxford Islamic Studies Online, the Sudanese Islamist group National Islamic Front founded the AIC to undertake missionary work among the non-Muslim majority in southern Sudan. Other sources indicate the training was not exclusively for Sudanese, political scientist Gilles Kepel has described it created to train preachers and young elites from French and English-speaking African countries, to imbue them with the Salafist view of Islam. Kepel describes the center as richly endowed by the Gulf States, rachel Bronson states that starting in 1977, Saudi Arabia poured significant resources into the center. According to the website, the Institute/Centre began by accepted African students at the intermediate. Later on the Institute/Centre was revived on wider basis and with facilities by the Government of the Sudan. It invited a number of Arab countries to contribute and six responded—Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, The United Arab Emirates and Morocco. Their representatives formed the Centre’s board of trustees and drew a statute which was approved by the Government of the Sudan and ratifies by the founding states. The Government of the Sudan granted the centre a big plot of land, the National Salvation Government ratified the previous statute. Between 1977 and 1986 the Institute/Centre was established and its administration,800 students could be accommodated and hundreds of students graduated. Teaching was expanded from intermediate and secondary levels to two university colleges. Social and cultural activities included youth cultural mission and graduates associations, in one African country more than 500 applicants competed for ten scholarship awards to AIC
21.
Khartoum
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Khartoum is the capital and second largest city of Sudan and the state of Khartoum. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing north from Lake Victoria, the location where the two Niles meet is known as al-Mogran. The main Nile continues to north towards Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. The origin of the word, Khartoum, is uncertain, one theory argues that khartoum is derived from Arabic khurṭūm, probably referring to the narrow strip of land extending between the Blue and White Niles. Some scholars speculate that the word derives from the Nubian word, Agartum, other Beja scholars suggest Khartoum is derived from the Beja word, Hartoom. Additionally, the dream interpreting magicians in Genesis 41,8 are referred to as חַרְטֻמֵּ֥י, suggesting that in ancient times the word already existed. In 1821, Khartoum was established 24 kilometres north of the ancient city of Soba, by Ibrahim Pasha, the son of Egypts ruler, Muhammad Ali Pasha, who had just incorporated Sudan into his realm. Originally, Khartoum served as an outpost for the Egyptian Army and it also became a focal point for the slave trade. Later, it became the center of Sudan and official capital. On 13 March 1884, troops loyal to the Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad started a siege of Khartoum, the siege ended in a massacre of the Anglo-Egyptian garrison. On 26 January 1885, the damaged city fell to the Mahdists. On 2 September 1898, Omdurman was the scene of the bloody Battle of Omdurman, in 1973, the city was the site of an anomalous hostage crisis in which members of Black September held 10 hostages at the Saudi Arabian embassy, five of them diplomats. The US ambassador, the US deputy ambassador, and the Belgian chargé daffaires were murdered, a 1973 United States Department of State document, declassified in 2006, concluded, The Khartoum operation was planned and carried out with the full knowledge and personal approval of Yasser Arafat. In 1977, the first oil pipeline between Khartoum and the Port of Sudan was completed, throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Khartoum was the destination for hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing conflicts in neighboring nations such as Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Uganda. Many Eritrean and Ethiopian refugees assimilated into society, while others settled in large slums at the outskirts of the city, since the mid-1980s, large numbers of refugees from South Sudan and Darfur fleeing the violence of the Second Sudanese Civil War and Darfur conflict have settled around Khartoum. In 1991, Osama bin Laden purchased a house in the affluent al-Riyadh neighborhood of the city and he lived there until 1996, when he was banished from the country. The destruction of the factory produced diplomatic tension between the U. S. and Sudan, the factory ruins are now a tourist attraction. The sudden death of SPLA head and vice-president of Sudan, John Garang, the riots finally died down after Southern Sudanese politicians and tribal leaders sent strong messages to the rioters
22.
Adamawa State
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Adamawa is a state in northeastern Nigeria, with its capital at Yola. It was formed in 1991 from part of Gongola State with four divisions, Adamawa, Ganye, Mubi. It is the home of the American University of Nigeria in Yola and it is one of the thirty-six states that constitute the Federal Republic of Nigeria. On May 14,2013, President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in Adamawa State, along with neighboring Borno State and Yobe State, Adamawa is one of the largest states of Nigeria and occupies about 36,917 square kilometres. It is bordered by the states of Borno to the northwest, Gombe to the west and its eastern border forms the national eastern border with Cameroon. Topographically, it is a mountainous land crossed by the river valleys – Benue, Gongola. The valleys of the Cameroon, Mandara and Adamawa mountains form part of the landscape, the major occupation of the people is farming as reflected in their two notable vegetational zones, tile Sub-Sudan and Northern Guinea Savannah Zone. Their cash crops are cotton and groundnuts while food crops maize, yam, cassava, guinea corn, millet. The village communities living on the banks of the engage in fishing while the Fulanis are cattle rearers. The state has a network of roads linking all parts of the country and these were however handed over, as UN Trustee Territories, to the British at the end of the first World War with the signing of the Versailles Treaty. After a series of plebiscites, the Northern Kameruns joined Nigeria to form the then Sardauna Province, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria was founded in Garkida Gombi Local Government of the state in March 1923 by American missionaries. The Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria was founded in Numan by Dutch missionaries in 1913, before it became a state in Nigeria, Adamawa was a subordinate kingdom of the Sultanate of Sokoto which also included much of northern Cameroon. The rulers bear the title of emir, the name Adamawa came from the founder of the kingdom, Modibbo Adama, a regional leader of the Fulani Jihad organized by Usumaanu dan Fodio of Sokoto in 1804. Modibbo Adama came from the region of Gurin and in 1806 received a flag for leading the jihad in his native country. In the following years Adama conquered many lands and tribes, in 1838 he moved his capital to Ribadu, and in 1839 to Joboliwo. In 1841 he founded Yola, where he died in 1848, after the European colonization the rulers remained as emirs, and the line of succession has continued to the present day. Another 100,000 internally displaced persons are estimated to be living in households outside the camps, some Nigerians who had earlier fled to Cameroon have now been repatriated. Yet another estimate placed the number of displaced persons around Yola at 400,000
23.
Taraba State
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Taraba is a state in Nigeria, named after the Taraba River which traverses the southern part of the state. The state was created out of the former Gongola State on 27 August 1991, by the military government of General Ibrahim Babangida. Taraba State is bounded in the west by Nasarawa State and Benue State, northwest by Plateau State, north by Bauchi State and Gombe State, northeast by Adamawa State, east and south by Cameroon. Taraba State lies largely within the middle of Nigeria and consists of undulating landscape dotted with a few mountainous features and these include the scenic and prominent Mambilla Plateau. The state lies largely within the zone and has a vegetation of low forest in the southern part. The Mambilla Plateau with an altitude of 1,800 meters above sea level has a temperate climate all year round, rivers Benue, Donga, lau Taraba and Ibi are the main rivers in the state. They rise from the Cameroonian mountains, straining almost the length of the state in the North and South direction to link up with the River Niger. Taraba State consists of sixteen Local Government Areas and they are governed by elected chairmen. They are as follows, The major occupation of the people of Taraba State is agriculture, cash crops produced in the state include coffee, tea, groundnuts and cotton. Crops such as maize, rice, sorghum, millet, cassava, in addition, cattle, sheep and goats are reared in large numbers, especially on the Mambilla Plateau, and along the Benue and Taraba valleys. Similarly, the people undertake other livestock production activities like poultry production, rabbit breeding, communities living on the banks of River Benue, River Taraba, River Donga and Ibi engage in fishing all year round. Other occupational activities such as pottery, cloth-weaving, dyeing, mat-making, carving, embroidery and blacksmithing are also carried out in various parts of the State. Other festivals are Purma of the Chamba in Donga, Takum and jibu culture dance in Bali, a striking historical fact about the State is that it encompasses part of the Mambilla Region which is famed as the Bantu cradle, having been occupied for some five millennia to date. Taraba State website Nigerian Post Office- with map of LGAs of the state
24.
J.P. Morgan & Co.
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J. P. Morgan & Co. is a commercial and investment banking institution based in the United States founded by John Pierpont Morgan and commonly known as the House of Morgan or simply Morgan. The firm is a predecessor of three of the largest banking institutions in the United States and globally, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Deutsche Bank. In 2000, J. P. Morgan & Co. merged with Chase Manhattan Bank to form JPMorgan Chase & Co. one of the largest global banking institutions. Today, the J. P. Morgan brand is used to market certain JPMorgan Chase wholesale businesses, including investment banking, commercial banking and asset management. The J. P. Morgan branding was revamped in 2008 to return to its traditional appearance after several years of depicting the Chase symbol to the right of a condensed and modernized JPMorgan. Between 1959 and 1989, J. P. Morgan operated as the Morgan Guaranty Trust, the origins of the firm date back to 1854 when Junius S. Morgan joined George Peabody & Co. a London-based banking business headed by George Peabody. Junius took control of the firm, changing its name to J. S, Morgan & Co. in 1864 on Peabodys retirement. Juniuss son, J. Pierpont Morgan, first apprenticed at Duncan, Sherman and Company in the New York City, then founded his own firm with a cousin, J. Pierpont Morgan & Company, J. Pierpont Morgan & Company traded in government bonds and foreign exchange. It also acted as an agent for Peabody’s, Junius, however, considered some of Pierpont’s ventures to be highly speculative. So, Pierpont took on a senior partner and the firm was known first as Dabney, Morgan and Company, then Drexel. In these firms, Pierpont used his Peabody connection to bring British financial capital together with rapidly growing U. S. industrial firms, such as railroads, who needed financial capital. The Drexel of Drexel, Morgan & Co. was Philadelphia banker Anthony J. Drexel, on Junius’ death in 1890, Pierpont Morgan took his place at J. S. After Drexel’s death, Drexel, Morgan reorganized in 1895 and became J. P and it financed the formation of the United States Steel Corporation, which took over the business of Andrew Carnegie and others and was the worlds first billion-dollar corporation. In 1895, it supplied the United States government with $62 million in gold to float a bond issue and restore the treasury surplus of $100 million. In 1892, the company began to finance the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, built in 1914,23 Wall Street was known as The Corner and The House of Morgan, and for decades the banks headquarters was the most important address in American finance. At noon, on September 16,1920, an anarchist bomb exploded in front of the bank, killing 38, shortly before the bomb went off, an unknown person placed a warning note in a mailbox at the corner of Cedar Street and Broadway. The warning read, Remember we will not tolerate any longer, free the political prisoners or it will be sure death for all of you. The Bank of England became an agent of J. P. Morgan & Co
25.
Barings Bank
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Barings Bank was a British merchant bank based in London, and the worlds second oldest merchant bank. It was founded in 1762 and was owned by the German-originated Baring family of merchants, Barings Bank was founded in 1762 as the John and Francis Baring Company by Francis Baring, with his older brother John Baring as a mostly silent partner. They were sons of John Baring, wool trader of Exeter, born in Bremen, the company began in offices off Cheapside and within a few years moved to larger quarters in Mincing Lane. Barings gradually diversified from wool into many other commodities, providing financial services necessary for the growth of international trade. In 1774, Barings started business in the U. S, by 1790, Barings had greatly expanded its resources, both through Francis efforts in London and by association with leading Amsterdam bankers Hope & Co. In 1793, the increased business necessitated a move to larger quarters in Devonshire Square, Francis and his family lived upstairs, above the offices. In 1796, the Bank helped to finance the purchase of about 1 million acres of land that would become part of the state of Maine. In 1800, John retired and the company was reorganized as Francis Baring and Co. Francis new partners were his eldest son Thomas and son-in-law Charles Wall. Then, in 1802, Barings and Hope were called on to facilitate the largest land purchase in history - the Louisiana Purchase and it is regarded as one of the most historically significant trades of all time. This was accomplished despite the fact that Britain was at war with France, technically, the United States purchased Louisiana from Barings and Hope, not from Napoleon. In other words, American slavery would ensure Barings profits in Britain. After a $3 million down payment in gold, the remainder of the purchase was made in U. S. bonds, Francis second son Alexander, working for Hope & Co. made the arrangements in Paris with François Barbé-Marbois, Director of the Public Treasury. Alexander then sailed to the United States and back to pick up the bonds, in 1803, Francis began to withdraw from active management, bringing in Thomas younger brothers Alexander and Henry to become partners in 1804. The new partnership was called Baring Brothers & Co. which it remained until 1890, the offspring of these three brothers became the future generations of Barings leadership. Barings helped to finance the United States government during the War of 1812, by 1818, Barings was called “the sixth great European power” after England, France, Prussia, Austria and Russia. A fall off in business and a lack of leadership in 1820s caused Barings to cede its dominance in the City of London to the rival firm of N M Rothschild & Sons. Bates advocated a shift in Barings efforts from Europe to the Americas, in 1832, a Barings office was established in Liverpool specifically to capitalize on new North American opportunities. In 1843, Barings became exclusive agent to the U. S. government, the company declined to act beyond 1846 when the government instructed them to restrict purchases to within the United Kingdom
26.
Umaru Musa Yar'Adua
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Umaru Musa YarAdua was the President of Nigeria. He served as governor of Katsina State in northern Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 28 May 2007 and he was declared the winner of the controversial Nigerian presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 May 2007. He was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, in 2009, YarAdua left for Saudi Arabia to receive treatment for pericarditis. He returned to Nigeria on 24 February 2010, where he died on the 5th of May and he started his education at Rafukka Primary School in 1958, and moved to Dutsinma Boarding Primary School in 1962. He attended the Government College at Keffi from 1965 until 1969, in 1971 he received a Higher School Certificate from Barewa College. He attended Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria from 1972 to 1975, obtaining a B. Sc. degree in Education and Chemistry, alhaji Umaru YarAdua married Turai Umaru YarAdua of Katsina in 1975, they had seven children. Their daughter Zainab is married to Kebbi State governor Usman Saidu Nasamu Dakingari and their daughter Nafisat is married to Bauchi State governor Isa Yuguda. YarAdua was married to Hauwa Umar Radda as a wife from 1992 to 1997. YarAduas first employment was at Holy Child College in Lagos and he later served as a lecturer at the College of Arts, Science, and Technology in Zaria, Kaduna State, between 1976 and 1979. In 1979 he began working as a lecturer at College of Art Science, remaining in position until 1983. YarAdua worked at Sambo Farms Ltd in Funtua, Katsina State and he served as a director of many companies, including Habib Nigeria Bank Ltd, 1995–99, Lodigiani Nigeria Ltd, 1987–99, Hamada Holdings, 1983–99, and Madara Ltd, Vom, Jos, 1987–99. He was Chairman of Nation House Press Ltd, Kaduna, from 1995 to 1999, during the Second Republic, YarAdua was a member of the leftist Peoples Redemption Party, while his father was briefly the National Vice chairman of the National Party of Nigeria. That association later fused to form the Social Democratic Party, YarAdua was a member of the 1988 Constituent Assembly. In 1999, he ran for the position and won. He was the first governor to publicly declare his assets, in the year of 2000, during his administration as governor, Katsina became the fifth northern Nigerian state to adopt sharia, or Islamic law. In 2002 Amina Lawal, a woman from Katsina, was sentenced to death by stoning by a court in the town of Bakori for committing adultery. Her sentence was at first upheld by a court in the town of Funtua, according to a public hearing that was carried out shortly after his death in May 2010, there has never being a Governor like him in the history of Katsina State. Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State has attributed the achievements recorded in the state to the sagacity of former governor, the late Yar’Adua was governor for eight years in Katsina State from 1999 to 2007 before he was succeeded by the incumbent
27.
Union Bank of Nigeria
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Union Bank of Nigeria Plc. commonly known as Union Bank of Nigeria, is a commercial bank in Nigeria. Union Bank is a commercial bank, serving individuals, small and medium-sized companies. In July 2009, it was rated the 556th largest bank in the world, as of June 2012, the banks asset base was estimated at US$6.784 billion. The shareholders equity at that time was estimated at US$1.22 billion, the bank was founded in 1917 as Colonial Bank. In 1925, Barclays Bank acquired Colonial Bank, changing the name to Barclays Bank or Barclays Bank. In 1969, Barclays Bank DCO was incorporated in Nigeria, as Barclays Bank of Nigeria Limited, in 1971, the shares of the bank stock were listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. In the same year,8. 33% of the shares were offered to Nigerians. The following year, the Federal Government of Nigeria acquired 51. 67% ownership of the bank, in 1979, that 40% was sold to Nigerian individuals and businesses to comply with then recently enacted banking and investment laws. The bank changed its name to Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, in 1993, the Federal Government of Nigeria completely divested its ownership in the bank. Subsequently, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc. acquired the formeeUniversal Trust Bank Plc and it also absorbed its former subsidiary Union Merchant Bank Limited. The companies that comprise the Union Bank of Nigeria Plc include, Union Homes Savings and Loans Plc. Altas Mara Ltd The bank maintains a vast network of interconnected branches in all Nigerian states and it has two wholly owned bank subsidiaries, one in Cotonou, Benin and another in London, in the United Kingdom. It also maintains a Representative Office in Johannesburg, South Africa, the management board is led by Mr Emeka Emuwa, who serves as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank. He has been at the helm of the bank since November 2012, economy of Nigeria List of banks in Nigeria Union Bank UK Official website Google Finance listing for Union Bank of Nigeria
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Financial Times
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The Financial Times is an English-language international daily newspaper with a special emphasis on business and economic news. The paper, published and owned by Nikkei Inc. in Tokyo, was founded in 1888 by James Sheridan and Horatio Bottomley, and merged in 1945 with its closest rival, the Financial Times has an average daily readership of 2.2 million people worldwide. FT. com has 4.5 million registered users and over 285,000 digital subscribers, FT Chinese has more than 1.7 million registered users. The world editions of the Financial Times newspaper had an average daily circulation of 234,193 copies in January 2014. In February 2014 the combined sale of the editions of the Financial Times was 224,000 copies. In October 2013 the combined print and digital circulation of the Financial Times reached nearly 629,000 copies. In December 2016 print sales for the paper stood at 193,211, on 23 July 2015 Nikkei Inc. agreed to buy the Financial Times from Pearson for £844m. On 30 November 2015 Nikkei completed the acquisition, the FT was launched as the London Financial Guide on 10 January 1888, renaming itself the Financial Times on 13 February the same year. Describing itself as the friend of The Honest Financier, the Bona Fide Investor, the Respectable Broker, the Genuine Director, the readership was the financial community of the City of London, its only rival being the slightly older and more daring Financial News. After 57 years of rivalry the Financial Times and the Financial News were merged in 1945 by Brendan Bracken to form a single six-page newspaper, the Financial Times brought a higher circulation while the Financial News provided much of the editorial talent. The Lex column was introduced from Financial News. Pearson bought the paper in 1957, over the years the paper grew in size, readership and breadth of coverage. It established correspondents in cities around the world, reflecting early moves in the economy towards globalisation. On 1 January 1979 the first FT was printed outside the UK, since then, with increased international coverage, the FT has become a global newspaper, printed in 22 locations with five international editions to serve the UK, continental Europe, the U. S. The European edition is distributed in continental Europe and Africa and it is printed Monday to Saturday at five centres across Europe reporting on matters concerning the European Union, the Euro and European corporate affairs. In 1994 FT launched a lifestyle magazine, How To Spend It. In 2009 it launched a website for the magazine. On 13 May 1995 the Financial Times group made its first foray into the world with the launch of FT. com
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Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is a Nigerian law enforcement agency that investigates financial crimes such as advance fee fraud and money laundering. The agency has its office in Abuja. By 2005, the EFCC arrested government officials including, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, in September 2006, the EFCC had 31 of Nigerias 36 state governors under investigation for corruption. Leading Nigerian daily This Day and other newspapers reported the facts of their clearance quoting text from FG issued directives. The former Health Minister and her deputy are currently on trial for stealing over N30,000,000 from the ministrys unspent funds from last year, on June 6,2008, Chief Farida Mzamber Waziri was sworn in as the new chairperson of the EFCC. Then on the 6th of August 2008, the former chairman Nuhu Ribadu was demoted from Assistant Inspector General to Deputy Commissioner of Police, since 2008, its website contains a list of the countrys most wanted criminals. Theyre also known for their informal motto WE WILL GET YOU, on September 14,2010, the head of the Forensic Unit of the EFCC, Abdullahi Muazu, was assassinated in Kaduna. He had been involved in the trials of several heads of banks. To rid Nigeria of Economic and Financial Crimes and to coordinate the domestic effort of the global fight against money laundering. An agency operating to best international standards and leading the fight against economic and financial crimes in Nigeria
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Sharia
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Sharia, Sharia law, or Islamic law is the religious law forming part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the precepts of Islam, particularly the Quran. In Arabic, the term refers to Gods divine law and is contrasted with fiqh. The manner of its application in modern times has been a subject of dispute between Muslim traditionalists and reformists, traditional theory of Islamic jurisprudence recognizes four sources of sharia, the Quran, sunnah, qiyas, and ijma. Traditional jurisprudence distinguishes two branches of law, ʿibādāt and muʿāmalāt, which together comprise a wide range of topics. Its rulings assign actions to one of five categories, mandatory, recommended, permitted, abhorred, thus, some areas of sharia overlap with the Western notion of law while others correspond more broadly to living life in accordance with God’s will. Historically, sharia was interpreted by independent jurists, ottoman rulers achieved additional control over the legal system by promulgating their own legal code and turning muftis into state employees. Non-Muslim communities had legal autonomy, except in cases of interconfessional disputes, in the modern era, sharia-based criminal laws were widely replaced by statutes inspired by European models. Judicial procedures and legal education in the Muslim world were brought in line with European practice. While the constitutions of most Muslim-majority states contain references to sharia, legislative bodies which codified these laws sought to modernize them without abandoning their foundations in traditional jurisprudence. The Islamic revival of the late 20th century brought along calls by Islamist movements for full implementation of sharia, including reinstatement of hudud corporal punishments, in some cases, this resulted in traditionalist legal reform, while other countries witnessed juridical reinterpretation of sharia advocated by progressive reformers. The role of sharia has become a contested topic around the world, attempts to impose it on non-Muslims have caused intercommunal violence in Nigeria and may have contributed to the breakup of Sudan. Some Muslim-minority countries in Asia, Africa and Europe recognize the use of sharia-based family laws for their Muslim populations, there are ongoing debates as to whether sharia is compatible with secular forms of government, human rights, freedom of thought, and womens rights. The word sharīʿah is used by Arabic-speaking peoples of the Middle East to designate a prophetic religion in its totality, for example, sharīʿat Mūsā means law or religion of Moses and sharīʿatu-nā can mean our religion in reference to any monotheistic faith. Within Islamic discourse, šarīʿah refers to regulations governing the lives of Muslims. For many Muslims, the word means simply justice, and they will consider any law that promotes justice, Muslims of different perspectives agree in their respect for the abstract notion of sharia, but they differ in how they understand the practical implications of the term. Classical sharia, the body of rules and principles elaborated by Islamic jurists during the first centuries of Islam, historical sharia, the body of rules and interpretations developed throughout Islamic history, ranging from personal beliefs to state legislation and varying across an ideological spectrum. Classical sharia has often served as a point of reference for these variants, Contemporary sharia, the full spectrum of rules and interpretations that are developed and practiced at present
31.
Abuja
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Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria located in the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory. It is a city and was built mainly in the 1980s. Abujas geography is defined by Aso Rock, a 400-metre monolith left by water erosion, the Presidential Complex, National Assembly, Supreme Court and much of the city extend to the south of the rock. Zuma Rock, a 792-metre monolith, lies just north of the city on the road to Kaduna State, at the 2006 census, the city of Abuja had a population of 776,298, making it one of the ten most populous cities in Nigeria. According to the United Nations, Abuja grew by 139. 7% between 2000 and 2010, making it the fastest growing city in the world. The unofficial metropolitan area of Abuja has a population of well over three million, making it the fourth largest metropolitan area in Nigeria, surpassed only by Lagos, Kano, as at 2016, the metropolitan area of Abuja is estimated at 6 million persons. Major religious sites include the Nigerian National Mosque and the Nigerian National Christian Centre, the city is served by the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport. Abuja is known for being one of the few capital cities in Africa. The indigenous inhabitants of Abuja are the Gbagyi as the language, Bassa, Gwandara, Gade, Ganagana. The location was designated in the centre of the country in the early 1970s as it signified neutrality. Another impetus for Abuja came because of Lagos population boom that made that city overcrowded, the logic used was similar to the way Brazil planned its capital, Brasília. Construction broke ground and was dedicated in the late 1970s but, due to economic and political instability, the master plan for Abuja defined the general structure and major design elements of the city that are visible in its current form. Most countries relocated their embassies to Abuja, and many maintain their former embassies as consulates in Lagos, Abuja is the headquarters of the Economic Community of West African States and the regional headquarters of OPEC. Abuja and the FCT have experienced population growth, it has been reported that some areas around Abuja have been growing at 20% to 30% per year. Squatter settlements and towns have spread rapidly in and outside the city limits, tens of thousands of people have been evicted since former FCT minister Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai started a demolition campaign in 2003. Along the Airport Road are clusters of settlements, namely Lugbe, Chika, Kuchigworo. Other satellite settlements are Idu, Mpape, Karimu, Gwagwa, Abujas Central District, also called Central Area, spans from the foot of Aso Rock, across the Three Arms Zone, to the southern base of the inner ring road. It is like the citys spinal cord, dividing it into the sector with Maitama and Wuse
32.
University of Bayreuth
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The University of Bayreuth is a public research university situated in Bayreuth, Germany. It was founded in 1975 as a campus university focusing on international collaboration and it is broadly organized into six undergraduate and graduate faculties, with each faculty defining its own admission standards and academic programs in near autonomy. The university is renowned for offering several interdisciplinary courses such as Philosophy & Economics, Global Change Ecology, Theatre and Media studies, the management, economics and law programs are ranked among the top degrees in Germany. In 2015 the university was ranked on place number 72 in the Times Higher Education world university ranking for universities founded less than 50 years ago. It is a member of the Elite Network of Bavaria, a coalition of leading research universities jointly offering graduate programs, the first chancellor was Wolf-Peter Hentschel from 1973 to Oktober 1999, who was already head of the executive office since 1 January 1972. From November 1999 to 2010 Ekkehard Beck was and since 2011 Markus Zanner is chancellor of the University of Bayreuth, african Languages, Literature and Arts, B. A. Media Studies and Media Practices, B. A, performing Arts and Opera Dramaturgy, B. A. Philosophy & Economics, B. A. Physics, B. Sc, biotechnology and Chemical Process Engineering, M. Sc. Computer Games Studies, M. A. or M. Sc, geschichte – History – Histoire, M. A. Human Geography- Urban and Regional Research, M. Sc, Cultural and Social Anthropology, M. A. Food and Health Sciences, M. Sc. Literature in its Cultural Context, M. A, Literature and Media, M. A. Material Chemistry and Catalysis, M. Sc. Materials Science and Engineering, M. Sc, Media Culture and Media Economy, M. A. Central Europe and Anglo-Saxon World 1300–2000, M. A. Molecular Ecology, Philosophy & Economics, M. A. Physics, M. Sc. Language – Interaction – Culture, M. A. Technomathematics, Master of Business Administration = MBA Master of Laws = LL. M. Health Care Management, MBA Sport Management, MBA Sport Law, after extensive plagiarism in zu Guttenbergs dissertation was revealed in February 2011, German media also criticised the University of Bayreuth. A University spokesman has denied allegations of bribery and political corruption, the University cancelled the doctorate and Guttenberg was forced to resign. Education in Germany List of universities in Germany Times Higher Education University of Bayreuth Faculties Fraunhofer Project Group Process Innovation
33.
Wahhabism
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Wahhabism is an Islamic doctrine and religious movement founded by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. The term Wahhabi is often used polemically and adherents commonly reject its use, the movement emphasises the principle of tawhid. Wahhabism is named after a preacher and activist, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. The alliance between followers of ibn Abd al-Wahhab and Muhammad bin Sauds successors proved to be a durable one, today Ibn Abd Al-Wahhabs teachings are the official, state-sponsored form of Sunni Islam in Saudi Arabia. With the help of funding from Saudi petroleum exports, the movement underwent explosive growth beginning in the 1970s, However, Wahhabism has also been called a particular orientation within Salafism, or an ultra-conservative, Saudi brand of Salafism. Estimates of the number of adherents to Wahhabism vary, with one giving a figure of fewer than 5 million Wahhabis in the Persian Gulf region. The majority of mainstream Sunni and Shia Muslims worldwide strongly disagree with the interpretation of Wahhabism, Islamic scholars, including those from the Al-Azhar University, regularly denounce Wahhabism with terms such as Satanic faith. It has also criticized for the destruction of historic shrines of saints, mausoleums. A misguided creed that fosters intolerance, promotes simplistic theology, and restricts Islams capacity for adaption to diverse, a term used by opponents of Salafism in hopes of besmirching that movement by suggesting foreign influence and conjuring up images of Saudi Arabia. The term is most frequently used in countries where Salafis are a minority of the Muslim community but have made recent inroads in converting the local population to Salafism. The British also adopted it and expanded its use in the Middle East, Wahhabis do not like – or at least did not like – the term. Ibn Abd-Al-Wahhab was averse to the elevation of scholars and other individuals, according to Robert Lacey the Wahhabis have always disliked the name customarily given to them and preferred to be called Muwahhidun. Another preferred term was simply Muslims since their creed is pure Islam, However, critics complain these terms imply non-Wahhabis are not monotheists or Muslims, and the English translation of that term causes confusion with the Christian denomination. Early Salafis referred to simply as Muslims, believing the neighboring Ottoman Caliphate was al-dawlah al-kufriyya. The prominent 20th-century Muslim scholar Nasiruddin Albani, who considered himself of the Salaf, a New York Times journalist writes that Saudis abhor the term Wahhabism, feeling it sets them apart and contradicts the notion that Islam is a monolithic faith. Ingrid Mattson argues that, Wahhbism is not a sect and it is a social movement that began 200 years ago to rid Islam of rigid cultural practices that had acquired over the centuries. Journalist Karen House calls Salafi, a politically correct term for Wahhabi. In any case, according to Lacey, none of the terms have caught on
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West Africa
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West Africa, also called Western Africa and the West of Africa, is the westernmost subregion of Africa. Early human settlers from northern Holocene societies arrived in West Africa around 12,000 B. C, sedentary farming began in, or around the fifth millennium B. C, as well as the domestication of cattle. By 1500 B. C, ironworking technology allowed an expansion of productivity. Northern tribes developed walled settlements and non-walled settlements that numbered at 400, in the forest region, Iron Age cultures began to flourish, and an inter-region trade began to appear. The desertification of the Sahara and the change of the coast cause trade with upper Mediterranean peoples to be seen. Local leather, cloth, and gold also contributed to the abundance of prosperity for many of the following empires. Also, based on the archaeology of city of Kumbi Saleh in modern-day Mauritania, three great kingdoms were identified in Bilad al-Sudan by the ninth century. They included Ghana, Gao and Kanem, the Sosso Empire sought to fill the void, but was defeated by the Mandinka forces of Sundiata Keita, founder of the new Mali Empire. In the 15th century, the Songhai would form a new dominant state based on Gao, in the Songhai Empire, under the leadership of Sonni Ali, further east, Oyo arose as the dominant Yoruba state and the Aro Confederacy as a dominant Igbo state in modern-day Nigeria. The Kingdom of Nri was a West African medieval state in the present-day southeastern Nigeria, the Kingdom of Nri was unusual in the history of world government in that its leader exercised no military power over his subjects. The kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over a third of Igboland, the Eze Nri managed trade and diplomacy on behalf of the Nri people, and possessed divine authority in religious matters. The Oyo Empire was a Yoruba empire of what is today Western, established in the 15th century, the Oyo Empire grew to become one of the largest West African states. It rose through the organizational skills of the Yoruba, wealth gained from trade. The Benin Empire was an empire located in what is now southern Nigeria. Its capital was Edo, now known as Benin City, Edo and it should not be confused with the modern-day country called Benin, formerly called Dahomey. The Benin Empire was one of the oldest and most highly developed states in the hinterland of West Africa. Olfert Dapper, a Dutch writer, describing Benin in his book Description of Africa and its craft was the most adored and treasured bronze casting in the history of Africa. It was annexed by the British Empire in 1897 during the invasion, in the early 19th century, a series of Fulani reformist jihads swept across Western Africa
