Borno

Borno State exists because a thousand-year empire refused to disappear. The Kanem-Bornu Empire, established in the 8th century, dominated trans-Saharan trade for a millennium under the Sayfawa dynasty - one of history's longest-ruling lineages. When internal conflicts forced relocation from Kanem to Borno in the 14th century, the empire adapted rather than collapsed. Islam arrived in the 11th century, and by the time Rabih az-Zubayr conquered the weakened state in 1893, Islamic governance had shaped the region for eight centuries. The British established Maiduguri as the new capital in 1907, but the emirs' political influence has survived every regime change. This path dependence helps explain Boko Haram's emergence: centuries of marginalization after colonizers divided the empire created conditions for extremism. Since 2009, the insurgency has displaced over 2 million residents, concentrating populations in Maiduguri while depopulating rural areas - a source-sink reversal that reshapes everything. Before violence, the economy ran on livestock, fishing near Lake Chad, and crops suited to arid conditions: sorghum, millet, groundnuts. Maiduguri remains a major trade center for cattle hides, leather, dried fish. By 2026, security improvements will determine whether agricultural recovery or continued displacement defines the state's trajectory.