Adamawa

Adamawa State exists because a Fulani scholar built an emirate in the highlands. Named after Modibo Adama, who founded Yola in 1841 during the Fulani Jihad, the state carries founder effects into the present. Adama received his mandate from Usman dan Fodio himself, establishing Islamic governance over a region of extraordinary diversity - over 100 ethnic groups coexist here, speaking distinct languages and maintaining separate traditions. This is niche partitioning at its most intricate. The highlands that attracted settlement (Benue and Gongola river valleys) create natural agricultural abundance: groundnuts, cotton, sorghum, millet, and maize flow from Adamawa to feed other states. Created from Gongola State in 1991, Adamawa became the buffer between Nigeria's Islamic north and Christian south. Boko Haram incursions in the 2010s tested this balance severely, displacing hundreds of thousands. Yet the same geographic diversity that made Adamawa complex also made it resilient - no single disruption could collapse the entire system. The Mambilla Plateau offers highland climate and hydroelectric potential. By 2026, Adamawa will position its agricultural surplus and highland climate as strategic assets as Nigeria intensifies food security efforts.