Detailed explanation of the geography of Jigawa state under the following headings: Location, position, size, population, people, climate, vegetation, drainage, mineral resources, economic activities and developmental infrastructural activities.
GEOGRAPHY OF JIGAWA STATE
Introduction:
Jigawa is a state in
central northern Nigeria. Its capital is Dutse. Religion in Jigawa
State is mainly Islam which constitutes
about 98.9% of the population, while 1.1% are indigenous Christians.
Jigawa
State was created out of the old Kano State in August 1991. It is one of the 36
States in Federal Republic of Nigeria. The agitation for the creation of the
state was led by Malam Inuwa-Dutse, a former commissioner in the Ministry of
Agriculture and Natural Resources during the governorship of late Audu Bako,
the then governor of old Kano State (comprising present Kano and Jigawa
states).By the 1999 Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, the state
comprises 27 Local Government Councils, which are divided into 30 State
Constituencies, grouped into 11 Federal Constituencies and 3 Senatorial
Districts.
1.
Location
Jigawa State is one
of thirty-six states that constitute Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is
situated in the north-western part of the country between latitudes 11.00°N to
13.00°N and longitudes 8.00°E to 10.15°E. Kano State and Katsina State border
Jigawa to the west, Bauchi State to the east and Yobe State
to the northeast. To the north, Jigawa shares an international border with Zinder
Region in The Republic of Niger, which is a unique opportunity for cross-border
trading activities. Government readily took advantage of this by initiating and
establishing a Free-Trade Zone at the Border town of Maigatari
of country of Niger.
2.
Topography/ Position
& Size
The state has a total
land area of approximately 22,410 square kilometers. Its topography is
characterized by undulating land, with sand dunes of various sizes spanning
several kilometres in parts of the State. The southern part of Jigawa comprises
the Basement Complex while the northeast is made up of sedimentary rocks of the
Chad Formation.
The main rivers are Hadejia, Kafin Hausa and
Iggi Rivers with a number of tributaries feeding extensive marshlands in
north-eastern part of the State. Hadejia – Kafin Hausa River traverses the
State from west to east through the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands
and empties into the Lake Chad Basin.
3.
Population &
People
The socio-cultural
situation in Jigawa State could be described as homogeneous: it is mostly
populated by Hausa/Fulani,
who can be found in all parts of the State. Kanuri
are largely found in Hadejia Emirate, with some traces of Badawa
mainly in its Northeastern parts. Even though each of the three dominant tribes
has continued to maintain its ethnic identity, Islam and a long history of
inter-marriages have continued to bind them together.
About 3.6 million
people inhabit Jigawa State. Life expectancy as at 2001 was about 52 years with
a total fertility rate of about 6.2 children per woman of childbearing age (a
little above the national average). Although population of the State is
predominantly rural (90%), the distribution in terms of sex is almost equal
between male (50.8%) and female (49.2%). This pattern of population
distribution is same across various constituencies in the State and between
urban and rural areas. In terms of age distribution, the 2002 CWIQ Survey
indicates that 45.2% of the population was made up of young people below the
age of 15; 49.0% between the ages of 15 and 59 while 5.8% were people aged 60
and above. This survey reveals a dependency ratio
of almost 1; meaning that there is almost one dependent to every economically
active person in the population.
Average household
size was about 6.7 almost all of which were headed by males. About 60% of
household heads were self-employed with agriculture as their main occupation,
and nearly two-thirds of these households were monogamous families. The overall
literacy rate was about 37% in 2002 (22 percent for women and 51 percent for
men). School enrolment ratio is fairly high with very good improvements in the
last few years, even though there is still clear disparity between boys and
girls.
Basic indicators for
water supply sector show that access to potable water is over 90%, which is
among the highest in the country. The 2002 CWIQ Survey however, indicated that
while access to high quality safe drinking water (pipe born, hand pump
boreholes and protected wells) is low at about 63%, nearly two-thirds of
households have good means of sanitation. In terms of health services, about
two-fifths of the population have access to medical services which is, however,
higher in urban areas where access was found to be about 55%. The CWIQ Survey
found that an average of 70% of those who consulted a health facility expressed
satisfaction with the services provided.
4.
Climate:
Climate in Jigawa
state is semi-arid, characterized by a long dry season and a short wet season.
The climatic variables are erratic and vary considerably over the year. The
annual mean temperature is about 25°C but the mean monthly values range between
21°C in the coolest month and 31°C in the hottest month. However, the mean
daily temperature could be as low as 20°C during the months of December and
January when the cold dry harmattan wind blows from the Sahara Desert.
Wet season is roughly
four months (June to September) and dry season is seven to eight months
(October to May). The rainy season sometimes starts in May but early rains in
April are not unusual while the bulk of the rainfall comes in June through
September. Violent dust storms, followed by tornado and lightening, usually
herald the onset of the rains in May and June and their retreat in September or
early October. The total annual rainfall ranges from 600mm in the north to
1000mm in the southern parts of the state.
5.
Vegetation
Most parts of Jigawa
lie within the Sudan Savannah with elements of Guinea Savannah in the southern
part. Total forest cover in the State is very much below national average of
14.8%[1]. Due to both natural and human factors, forest cover is being
depleted, making northern part of the State highly vulnerable to desert
encroachment. The State enjoys vast fertile arable land to which almost all
tropical crops could adapt, thus constituting one of its highly prized natural
resources. The Sudan Savannah vegetation zone is also made up of vast grazing
lands suitable for livestock production.
6.
Drainage:
The relief is
generally undulating, but rock outcrops are common in areas of Basement complex
rocks. In the southern part of the state, the relief is about 500-600 metres
above sea level. Some of the hill formations in the areas underlain by these
old hard rocks consist of lateritic capped erosional survivals on deeply
weathered soils. Surface outcrops are absent in the areas covered by
sedimentary rocks of the Chad Formation and the relief is usually below 400
metres above sea level.
Any undulations in the
relief of such areas consist of fossils, dunes and dune ridges separated by
depressions which contain water during the rainy season. Broad shallow valleys
are characteristic of the crystalline rock areas, where the river beds are usage
rocks, the valley formation hardly exists. Rather, the waters of the Hadejia
meander through numerous channels that constitute part of the HadejiaNguru Wetlands.
Many of the water channels dry up during the dry season, when water for
domestic use is obtained by digging holes in the sand filled river into beds.
7.
Mineral
Resources
The state is endowed
with abundant deposits of mineral resources. Some of these include, Kaolin in
Dutse, Gwaram, Kazaure and of Roni Local government areas. Tourmaline found in
Gwaram local government area. Amethyst a semiprecious stone which occurs in
Gwaram local government, Potash in Birniwa and Kirkasamma local government
areas, Silica deposits occur in Ringirn, Birniwa, Kazaure and Babura LGAs. Iron
Ore occurs in Roni local government. Copper found to be present in the iron ore
fields identified at Roni local government area.
White Quartz this is
available in commercial quantities at Kazaure and Roni; similar deposits in
crystal form are also available in Gwaram. Refractory Clay available in
Hadejia, Fine Clay deposits available in Gwaram local government.
8.
Economy Activities
The Economy of Jigawa
State is largely characterized by informal sector activities with agriculture
as the major economic activity. Over 80% of the population is engaged in
subsistence farming and animal husbandry. Trade and commerce are undertaken on
small and medium scale, especially in agricultural goods, livestock and other
consumer goods. Other informal sector activities include blacksmithing,
leather-works, tailoring services, auto repairs, metal works, carpentry,
tanning, dyeing, food processing, masonry etc. Even though modern industrial
sector is yet to gain a solid footing, the seed for their development was
planted through establishment of small-scale industries particularly in areas
of food processing and other agro-allied activities. These industries have been
helped by the Information Communication Technology program initiated by the Saminu Turaki,
the state’s former governor.
The Federal Office of
Statistics, in 2001, classified Jigawa State among those with relatively high
severity and incidence of poverty in the country, with a Gross Per Capita
Income of N35, 000 per annum (US$290), which is below the National Average.
However, the 2002 Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire (CWIQ) Survey indicated
that over two-fifths of the population do not consider themselves poor.
9.
Infrastructure
The State of
infrastructure for economic development such as roads, electricity,
telecommunication and information technology have recently witnessed tremendous
improvements through massive rehabilitation and expansion works. With massive
road rehabilitation projects already undertaken throughout the State during the
last five years, coupled with efforts made towards power generation via
Independent Power Platforms, and the Internet Broadband Project, investment
climate in Jigawa State in terms of economic infrastructure is quite promising.
No comments:
Post a Comment