Description of Jigawa State

As one of Nigeria's 36 states, Jigawa is found in the country's northern half. Jigawa State, which was established in 1991 from Kano State's far northeast, shares a border with Nigeria's other national boundary, the Republic of Niger. The city of Dutse serves as both the state capital and the largest city. There are 27 municipalities in the state of Jigawa.

Jigawa State is the seventh most populous state in the country, and its citizens are almost entirely of Hausa or Fulani descent. Jigawa State, like eleven other states in Nigeria, is ruled by Sharia law due to the overwhelming Muslim population there. Birnin Kudu, in Jigawa State, is where you can find the famed Neolithic cave paintings of Dutsen Habude. Hadejia (formerly Biram) is renowned for being one of the "seven real Hausa states."

Jigawa State continues to rely heavily on the agricultural sector of the economy. Because of the state's semiarid climate, many residents travel to neighboring states like Kano State during the off-season to find employment. Arable agriculture is increasingly vulnerable to national disasters like flooding, exacerbating the state's already severe shortage of arable land in recent years. As a result, in recent years, disputes over fertile land have escalated into violence between farmers and nomadic Fulani herdsmen.

Location

One of Nigeria's 36 states, Jigawa is part of the country's Federal Republic. Located between 11.00°N and 13.00°N and 8.00°E and 10.15°E, it lies in the northwest corner of the country. Jigawa shares borders with Kano and Katsina, while Bauchi and Yobe are to the east and northeast. In the north, Jigawa borders the Republic of Niger's Zinder Region, providing a rare possibility for trade across international borders. The government of Niger wasted little time capitalizing on this by establishing a free trade zone near the Maigatari border town.

The majority of Jigawa State's population identifies as Hausa or Fulani, and they may be found in every region of the state. Hadejia Emirate is primarily inhabited by Kanuri, with pockets of Badawa primarily concentrated in the northeastern region. Islamic faith and a lengthy history of intermarriage have kept the three prominent tribes together even as each has maintained its ethnic identity.

There are approximately 3.6 million people living in Jigawa State. In the year 2001, the average life expectancy was estimated at 52 years, and the total fertility rate was approximately 6.2 children per woman of reproductive age (a little above the national average). The majority of the state's population lives in rural areas (90%), however men and women are nearly evenly represented in the population (50.8%) and labor force (49%). It's important to note that this pattern of population distribution holds true among parties and between urban and rural areas. According to the CWIQ Survey from 2002, 45.2% of the population was under the age of 15, 49.0% was between the ages of 15 and 59, and 5.8% was 60 or older. The poll found a dependency ratio of 0.97, which means that for every economically active individual in the population, there was 0.96 people who needed financial support.

There were 6.7 people per average home, and men were the primary breadwinners in nearly all cases. Sixty percent of all household heads were sole proprietors, with agriculture as their primary source of income, and over seventy percent of all families were made up of only one spouse. About 37% of the population was literate in 2002. (22 percent for women and 51 percent for men). The enrollment ratio in schools is fairly high, and it has improved greatly over the past few years, but there is still a glaring gender gap between the sexes.

Over 90% of the population has access to clean water, which is significantly higher than the national average. However, only around 63% of households have access to high-quality, safe drinking water (pipe born, hand pump boreholes, and protected wells), according to the 2002 CWIQ Survey, while over 67% of homes have adequate sanitation facilities. Access to health care is rather high, with about 40% of the population able to do so overall; this number rises to roughly 55% in metropolitan areas. Seventy percent of patients who visited a clinic or hospital reported being happy with the care they received, according to the CWIQ Survey.

Geography

About 22,410 square kilometers of land make up the state's total territory. The area is undulating, with sand dunes ranging in size from a few hundred feet to several kilometers in length across various regions of the state. Basement complex can be found in the southern portion of Jigawa, whereas Chad Formation sedimentary rocks can be found in the northern section. The huge marshlands in the north-eastern region of the State are nourished by the Hadejia, Kafin Hausa, and Iggi Rivers as well as their many tributaries. The Hadejia-Kafin Hausa River flows from west to east across the state, beginning in the Hadejia-Nguru marshes and ending in the Lake Chad Basin.

Vegetation

The majority of Jigawa is located in the Sudan Savannah, but the southern half of the region is in the Guinea Savannah. The state has a smaller forest area than the rest of the country (14.8 vs. 15.1%). The loss of forest cover from both natural and human causes makes the northern half of the state extremely susceptible to desertification. The state's huge arable land is one of its most valuable assets because it's suitable for growing practically every tropical crop. Large swaths of land that are perfect for grazing animals can be found in the Sudan savannah vegetation zone.

Economy

Agriculture is the backbone of Jigawa State's economy, but the state's informal sector is also significant. It's estimated that over 80% of the population relies on agriculture and livestock for survival. Small and medium-sized businesses engage in commercial activity, primarily dealing in agricultural products, cattle, and other consumer goods. Other examples of work done in the informal economy include blacksmithing, leatherworking, tailoring, auto repair, metalworking, woodworking, tanning, dying, food processing, masonry, and so on. Small-scale enterprises, especially in the food processing and other agro-allied operations like the Jigawa ethanol programme, have established a foundation for the growth of the modern industrial sector, which is still finding its feet. An ICT initiative launched by the state's former governor, Saminu Turaki, has benefited these sectors.