Gusau

Geography

Gusau City is located north of a line drawn from Kebbi to Kano in Nigeria. The Hausa people are the indigenous inhabitants of Gusau. Gusau district was one of the Districts that emerged following the jihad movement of the nineteenth century in Hausa land, led by the legendary Sheikh Usman dan Fodio. It was founded around 1799 by Mallam Muhammadu Sambo Dan Ashafa, a disciple of dan Fodio. Gusau district only became prominent after the fall of Yandoto in 1806. Since its emergence as an important settlement in the Sokoto Caliphate, Gusau town has attracted attention as an important agricultural and commercial center. At any rate, the town and its surrounding areas had attracted large presence of agriculturists; farmers and livestock rearers, especially cattle owning Fulani. Gusau before the colonial period, was an agrarian society; agriculture was the backbone of the economy of the Gusau people. The economic activity of the people during this period consisted mainly in farming with other minor supplementary occupations, although, like most other Hausa towns, agriculture remained the main activity. In the area there were builders, thatchers, butchers, blacksmiths, drummers, praise-singers, etc. Gusau and the territory assigned to Mallam Sambo Dan Ashafa falls within the metropolitan section of the caliphate. After the consolidation of Mallam Sambo, with their headquarters at Gusau, it had under it the territories of Wonaka, Mada, Yandoto, Samri, Magami, Marabu, Mareri, Mutumji, Kwaren Ganuwa, Wanke and a group of villages around Gusau, like other parts of the caliphate. In territorial administration besides the fief holders in the outlying territory, the town was broken into five wards namely, Shiyar Magaji, Uban Dawaki, Galadima, Mayana and Sarkin Fada. They were the…

Most-observed species

• African Palm-Swift

  Cypsiurus parvus (M.H.K.Lichtenstein, 1823) · Aves
  1
• Cattle Egret

  Bubulcus ibis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1
• Pied Crow

  Corvus albus Statius Muller, 1776 · Aves
  1
• Village Weaver

  Ploceus cucullatus (Statius Muller, 1776) · Aves
  1
• Little Swift

  Apus affinis (J.E.Gray, 1830) · Aves
  1
• Ethiopian Swallow

  Hirundo aethiopica Blanford, 1869 · Aves
  1
• Northern Gray-headed Sparrow

  Passer griseus (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  1
• Speckled Pigeon

  Columba guinea Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1