Jigawa State

Jigawa State is one of thirty-six states that constitute Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is situated in the northwestern 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. The government readily took advantage of this by initiating and establishing a free trade zone at the border town of Maigatari in Niger.

The state has a total land area of approximately 22,410 square kilometres. 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.

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 below national average of 14.8%. 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.

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.[4] 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 have 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 and between urban and rural areas. The 2002 CWIQ Survey indicated 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.

The Bade language is spoken in Guri LGA, the Warji language is spoken in Birnin Kudu LGA, and the Duwai language is spoken in Hadejia LGA. Major languages are Hausa and Fulani.[5]

98.9% of the population in Jigawa State are Muslim, while 1.1% are Christians.

Jigawa State—created out of the old Kano State in August 1991—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 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. These 27 local government councils were further subdivided into 77 development areas by law No. 5 of 2004 of the State House of Assembly. In line with the democratic setting in the country, the governments at both the state and local government levels are elected, and comprise an executive with a unicameral legislature. The state legislature has 30 elected members each representing one of the state constituencies. To complete the state governance structure, there is an independent state judiciary as the third arm of government.

The State Government administrative apparatus is organized into ministries, extra-ministerial departments and parastatals, which are located across the three senatorial districts in the state since 1999. This decentralized approach to governmental administrative structure was seen as a move towards stimulating economic activities socio-economic development and empowerment over a wider area since government is the largest employer, perhaps second only to agriculture. In addition, this was also seen as a way for spreading even development among major urban centers and a shift from “city-state syndrome” that obtained in the old Kano State.

Jigawa State consists of twenty-seven (27) Local Government Areas, They are:

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 agric 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 such as the Jigawa ethanol programme. These industries have been helped by the Information Communication Technology program initiated by the Saminu Turaki, the states former governor.[6] 4

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; till date Jigawa State is being rate among the poorest states in Nigeria. However, the 2002 Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire (CWIQ) Survey indicated that over two-fifths of the population do not consider themselves poor.

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.

Education in Jigawa state is progressing well. Currently the state has a Federal University which is situated in the state capital, Dutse and a state-owned University situated at Kafin Hausa Local Government Area of the state. There is also Federal Polytechnic in Kazaure and a number of Monotechnics across the state. Established in 2011, Federal University Dutse is fast growing with number of applicants rapidly growing.

British support has provided the Jigawa State School of Midwifery in northern Nigeria with essential equipment as well as helping the teachers develop the curriculum and get accreditation for the programme.[7]

Government of Jigawa State relates very well with multilateral agencies in the country particularly the World Bank, UNDP, UNICEF, DFID and other international donor agencies and NGOs. Multilateral agencies have been a veritable source of development funds and technical assistance to State Government. Presently, the State partners with DFID, UNDP, UNICEF, IBRD, IFAD, ADF and some other International Development Agencies in pursuit of several development projects and programmes, particularly in the sphere of pro-poor growth, poverty reduction, education, and positive reform programmes such as Public Expenditure Management, Health Systems and Justice System Reforms.

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