USMAN DAN FODIO: PROGENITOR OF THE SOKOTO CALIPHATE

Sheikh Usman Ibn Fodio or Shehu Usman dan Fodio (December 15, 1754 — April 20, 1817) was the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate in 1809. A religious teacher, writer and Islamic promoter, Dan Fodio was one of a class of urbanized ethnic Fulani living in the Hausa States in what is today northern Nigeria. A teacher of the Maliki school of law and the Qadiriyyah order of Sufism, he lived in the city-state of Gobir until 1802 when, motivated by his reformist ideas and under increased repression by local authorities, he led his followers into exile.
This exile began a political and social revolution which spread from Gobir throughout modern Nigeria and Cameroon, and was echoed in an ethnicly Fula-led Jihad movement across West Africa. Dan Fodio declined much of the pomp of rulership, and while developing contacts with religious reformists and Jihad leaders across Africa, he soon passed actual leadership of the Sokoto state to his son, Muhammed Bello.

DidYouKnow that Kumbwada in Kano has always been ruled by a Queen as an ancient curse keeps males off the throne?

Kumbwada in Niger State is ruled by Queen Hajiya Haidzatu Ahmed, who presides over thousands of subjects. ​Kumbwada in Kano has always been ruled by a woman.

A throne curse which makes men sick and die, keeps males off the throne. Sadly, the woman-ruled Kumbwada is the least funded chiefdom in Nigeria.

Kumbwada, in Nigeria's conservative Islamic North, where strict Sharia law is the rule, has never had a male ruler.

The Queens palace is a shack with a rusted corrugated roof, but her rule over the 33,000 citizens is unquestioned.

Idris Alooma: Warrior King of the Bornu Empire

Greatest ruler of the Central African state of the Kanem-Borno Empire.

Today, Ayomide Akinbode writes on Idris Alooma (also Idris Alaoma , or Idris Alauma ), the only Bornu King whose name has survived the test of time. Idris lived at the time Queen Elizabeth I (1533—1603) was queen of England.

Idris Alooma (c.1538—1596) was mai (king) of the Kanem-Bornu Empire (1396—1893), located mainly in Chad and Nigeria. An outstanding statesman, under his rule Kanem-Bornu touched the zenith of its power. Idris is remembered for his military skills, administrative reforms, and Islamic piety. His feats are mainly known through his chronicler Ahmad bin Fartua.

During his reign, Idris avoided the capital Ngazargamu , preferring to set his palace 5 km away, near the Yo river (Komadugu Yobe ), in a place named Gambaru. The walls of the city were red, leading to a new architecture using red bricks characteristic of his reign. To this day, some murals still exist in Gambaru and are over 3 metres tall. These are vestiges of a flourishing empire. Idris Alooma was known by the Kanuri title of Mai for king.