Adamawa State

The territory of present-day Adamawa takes its name from Modibbo Adama, a Fulani scholar who in 1806 received a flag from Usman dan Fodio to lead the jihad in the upper Benue region. Adama founded the Adamawa (Fombina) Emirate, a vassal of the Sokoto Caliphate that extended deep into what is now northern Cameroon, and established Yola as its capital in 1841; he died there in 1848. The emirate's rulers carry the title Lamido, and the line of succession continues to the present day.

At the end of the nineteenth century the emirate was partitioned between the British and the Germans. The western portion became part of the Northern Nigeria Protectorate, while the east formed part of German Kamerun. After the First World War the German sector became part of the British-administered Northern Cameroons, which voted in the 1961 plebiscite to join Nigeria. After independence the area was part of the Northern Region, then the North-Eastern State (1967) and Gongola State (1976).

Adamawa State was created on 27 August 1991 when Gongola State was divided into Adamawa and Taraba. It is one of Nigeria's most ethnically diverse states, with over 100 indigenous groups, and is home to the Sukur Cultural Landscape, Nigeria's first UNESCO World Heritage Site. Northern LGAs such as Mubi, Madagali and Michika were heavily affected by the Boko Haram insurgency between 2012 and 2018, and recovery and resettlement have been a major focus of policy since.