Author: Babagana Abubakar

E-mail: babaganabubakar2002@yahoo.com
PERMANENT ADDRESS: ALHAJI BUKAR KUYA HOUSE, FEZZAN, MAIDUGURI, BORNO STATE, NIGERIA
Tel: +2348062220179 Skype: babagana.abubakar

ORIGIN AND MEANING OF BORNO

The name Borno is from the name Bornu and the name Bornu was coined from the word
Bahar-Nuhu.

Bahar-Nuhu is a combination of two Arabic words; Bahr (Arabic: )meaning Sea and Nuhu
is a name in the holy Quran referring to Prophet Nuhualaihis-salaam (Arabic: ,translit. N )
who is also referred to as Noah in the holy Bible (Injila) and the holy Atorah (Old testament).
So literally Bahar-Nuhu means the Sea of Nuhu.

BAHAR + NUHU = SEA OF NUHU (SEA OF NOAH)

However the name Bahar Nuhu transformed over time to become Bornu and later Borno.

Bahar-Nuhu => Bornu =>Borno

Reason of calling Borno as BaharNuhu: In accordance to the history of Nuhugiven in the holy
books (Quran, Bible and Torah) that during his lifetime the entire World was once submerged by
sea water. Existing archaeological evidences also proved that the entire World (Earth) was once
under waterwith no dry spot left. The history also stated that the water disappeared after
sometimes probably days, months or years. So after this great floodLands reappeared, mountains
werereemerged, Valleys reappeared, rivers and seas came back to live,but land locked Lakes like

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the Lake Mega Chad and later Lake Chad referred to as the Bahar-Nuhu remains filled upwith
semi saline/potash like tasting water due to its landlocked and very low physical depression
nature withno connectivity for exit of its through any lower land tributaries like rivers, Seas or
Oceans insteadthe Bahar-Nuhu retains its water from the prophet Nuhu era though characterized
with constant physical shrinking of its surface water since then through direct sinking of the
water in to the ground and through Evapo-Transpiration (Water to Air conversion through
natural heat and wind systems).

One can logicallyprove this part of history by observingat the physical geography of the
presently shrinkingBahar-Nuhu (Lake Chad) located at Coordinates 130N 140E,
whichshrank to its present size of just 1,350 km2 (520 mi2) as at 2005, from itsfull capacity of
25,000km2in the 1940s andapproximately 560,000 km2some 6000 years back. This scenario
shows that the lake is shrinking and keep shrinking as such that one would be tempted to ask the
question why the water is just shrinking without history of replenishing, thereby leaving behind
the only option responsible for that was through the invasion of Sea water overland.

Fig.1: A Sketch of ancient Bahar-Nuhu (Lake Mega Chad) thousands of years back:

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Though history shows that the Lake Chad kept shrinking, but the impacts of climate change is
also a stimulantto its faster shrinking since the last 70 years ago. Climate change makes people
change in behaviors, culture and policies while adapting and mitigating against this change.
Adapting and mitigating to this climate change made some countries to be building Dams along
the courses of the few feeder rivers of the Lake in order to improve their irrigation activities and
for hydro-electric power generations for example the construction of the Lagdo dam located
at Coordinates 853N 1358E in the republic of Cameroon in the late 1970s along the
Lagdo Reservoir had led to extra ordinary shrinking of the Bahar-Nuhu in the last 40
years.

Fig.2: A map (A) & a satellite Imagery (B) indicating the various Positions of the
shrinking Lake Chad over the years :

A. B.

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The inhabitants of this Bahar-Nuhu environment are the Kanuri people of the ancient Kanem-
BornuEmpire who settled here since the 7th century probably duringthe period when the Lake
water was fast receding and producing more new Lands & territories enabling creating more new
settlements and agricultural fields. This Kanuri people with long relationship with the Lake
(Bahar-Nuhu) were the first to discover that the Bahar-Nuhu water was actually a body of water
that gathered since the time of prophet Nuhu (peace be upon him); thus making them to call it
with the name Bahar Nuhu in the first place.

These historical,logical and scientific facts altogether explains the reason why the soils(grounds)
of most part of the lands of the present day Borno state especially those of Monguno, Mafa,
Maiduguri, Benisheikh, Gajigana,Marte,Ngala,Dikwa, Konduga,Bama, Gajiram and others in
Yobe state including Damaturu,Mamudo,Damagum as far as Potiskum they are all looking
darkish or Muddy-Ash like in nature in terms of their physical coloursthereby indicating that all
these places mentioned above were ones part of the Bahar-Nuhu seabed. Soils from these areas
are very fertile for farming because they are somehow made of decomposedmarine remains. In
some locations these dark soil do not form the top layers, but when digging one meets strata of
layers and the dry dark muddy marine remains forms part of them.

Furthermore One can notice this dry darky marine soil better in some locations like Monguno,
Kukawa, Marte,Ngala and others especially when travelling with a vehicle across the Plain lands
of these places like the farmlands , open fields and busheswhere thedark soils sticks on the
wheels (tires) and bottomportions of the vehicle involved.

Additional prove was in the year 1987 , when a peasant farmer in the semi desert environment of
the town of Dafuna some few kilometers away from Damaturu the present capital of Yobe state
in Nigeriadiscovered an ancient Canoe buried underground while digging a Well . The town of
Dafunais approximately 380 km away from the present day bank of the Lake Chad with no
known history of a nearby major flowing river nor having any connection with the present day
Lake Chad or having people engaged in Canoe making or fishing activities.But surprisingly
discovered this ancientCanoe buried for this long and in this semi desert environment. Radio-
Carbon dating shows that this Canoe is over Six thousand years (6000) old,making it the Worlds
second oldest Canoe ever discovered in history.

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 Fig.3: The Dafuna Canoe at the excavation site (A) &(B):

Fig.4: The 6000 years + Dafuna Canoe after excavation:

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Bornu popularity at International Level:

The name Bornu became popular at the international and diplomatic levels or to the outside
World when the Sayfawa Dynasty was formed bySayfibnDhiYazan also known as
SefDhuIfazan ( Sef son of DhuIfazan) in the 9th century ,when the name Bornu was coined to
form the name of the dynasty referred to as the Kanem-Bornu which became the strongest and
most popular Empire in African history, this made the name Bornu rang Bell that made sound
that was heard almost all over the World since thousand years back. Bornu still remains a name
in many history books of the Europeans, Middle East andAfricans.

However the Bornu Empire collapsed in the year 1893 when RabihZubayribnFadlallah seized
power and transferred the capital from Kukawato Dikwa.During this war the center of power of
Borno became almost mobile by keep relocating the capital of Borno to different locations for
safety as a result places like Monguno,Marte, old Maiduguri and eventually Yerwa where all
capitals within ashort while.

The French, then expanding in West Africa, defeated and killed Rabihatat Kousri now in
Northern Cameroon republic and the French also installed ShehuSanda Kura, a member of the
old Bornu dynasty, as the first Shehu of Borno in Dikwa in 1900. Later in 1901 they replaced the
Shehuwithhis brother Umar Abubakar Garbai. Based on a treaty between the French, Germans
andthe British, the old Bornu was split up and Dikwa became part of the German colony of
Cameroon. The British invited Umar Abubakar Garbai to become ruler of the British portion,
and he moved in 1902 first to Monguno and later to Maiduguri. Later Dikwa was transferred to
the British, resulting in two Shehus, the Shehu of Borno based at Maidgurui and the Shehu of
Dikwa based at Dikwa.

The Borno Emirate council is a traditional Nigerian state formed at the start of the colonial rule.
The traditional Emirate of Borno maintains a ceremonial rule of the Kanuri people, based in
Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria.

So this Bornu Empire enjoyed using the name of Bornu derived from Bahar-Nuhu for
millennium and they remain proud of the name.

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Fig.5: A m ap showing the p o sitio n of Ka nem -Born u (A) in the pr e-colo nial era and s ome eld ers of the Kan em -
Bornu during th e Colo nial E ra ( B):

A. B.

Modern Borno:

After Nigerian independence in 1960, Borno remained fairly autonomous until the expansion of
the number of states in Nigeria to 12 in 1967 under the administration of General Yakubu
Gowon. In 1975 the name Bornu was used to create the new state of Bornu which was later
coined to become Borno of today comprising of both the present day Borno and Yobe states and
until the year 1991 when the state of Yobe was separated from Borno. But still the neghbouring
communities to Borno like the Hausas and the Fulanisstill call the people from these two states
(Borno &Yobe) as Dan-Borno (Son or citizen of Borno).

Geography of ModernBorno:

The geographical location of the present day Borno is at Coordinates: 1130N 1300E with an
Area of 70,898 km and population of approximately 7 000 000 (Seven million).It remains
acenter of commerce, culture, home of Durbar as well as center of learning/scholarship.

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 Fig. 6: A political Map o f Mo dern Borno sta te :

Borno Culture:

Borno has many tribes in it but the Kanuri formed 70 % of its total population , other ethnic
groups of Borno includes the Shuwa,Mandara,Marghi,Babur,Gwoza,Chibok,Wula, Hausa, Fulani,
Tuwo and some few others.

Wonders and Mysteries of BaharNuhu area:

1. Despite the fact that greater portions of the original Lake had completely dried up with
some spots even been transformed in to desert or semi desert environment, but yet this
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 Lake still keeps providing the people of the area and beyond with employment
opportunities and the best of natural resources including water, sea foods, potassium
nitrate and others.

Fig.7: Pho tos o f some Fish s pecies found in th e Lake:

2. Foods cultivated on the shores of this Lake referred to as the Firgi (Furyi) areas or the
Sade (Sad3) areas in general have the best taste and best grades in the entire African
markets and yet they are mainly organic foods because they are mostly grown on the
natural marine sediments deposited by the Bahar-Nuhu all over Borno,Yobe,Kanem and
the Wadi areas of Chad. In fact this explains the reason why the Borno beans popularly
known in the Nigerian Markets as the Krenuwa beans remains the best and the most
expensive beans in the West African market.
3. Due to the natural nature of the saline/potash like taste of the waters of Bahar-Nuhu as a
result of the presence of natural potassium nitrate in it made fish from the Bahar-Nuhu
generally known as the Baga Fish or the lake Chad Fish to be one of the best tasty
fishes in the world, though their relatively expensive because of their high demand.
Same applies with other agricultural products produced around the Bahar-Nuhu area
including beans, potatoes, millet, guinea corn, water melon, onions, wheat, cucumbers,
cattle and many others

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Fig. 8: A photo showing farming in the Firgi (A) an d a k ind o f trad itional fishing in the Lake Cha d (B) :

A. B.

4. Though the Bahar-Nuhu is one of the existing very many lakes of Africa ,but it
remains the Lake with the highest attraction of people of diverse nationalities
coming for fishing, potassium extraction and other related activities in it.It
attracts more people engaged in fishing activities than even the great
LakeVictoria itself. People from over 20 countries are regularly coming for fishing
in the Lake Chad waters of Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon. The citizens of Mali,
Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Sudan, Central Afrique, South Sudan, Ghana,
Benin,Togo,Guinea and many others established their presence here. Surprisingly
even the people of the popular Argungu river in Kebbi state of Nigeria mostly
travels toDoronBaga (Lake Chad) for fishing instead of continuous fishing in
popular rivers within their domains like the river Yawuri,Rima,Niger and others.

5. The Kanuri people (BaharNuhunian) living around the Bahar-Nuhu were the first people
in history to invent the act of Canoe making using grass (Grass-Canoe) instead of the

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 normal tradition of making Canoe using tree trunks which produces heavy Canoe with
limited capacity of passengers and limitations on usage in shallow waters.

Fig.9: A photo of a Kanuri men paddling on their Grass- Canoe on the Bahar-Nuhu:

Again the Kotoko people who are another tribe that ones lived around the Lake Chad
and still patronizing the lake for fishing activities are known to also be producing one of
the best flat bottom Boats in history in the area.

6. Recent research discovered that fine Marine dust particles are generated from the
beds of the dried ancient Lake Mega Chad in a depression created by the dried
lake around the Wadai area presently located in the republic of Chad, this dust is
transported by wind system and showers over the American Amazon jungle on a
periodic basis. This magic Bahar-Nuhu dust remains the main source of nutrients
of the Amazon plants as the Amazon soil itself is infertile to be able to sustain
such a gigantic rainforest. The process involves wind system sweeping the dried
marine dust between the Tibesti and the Ennedi Mountains in Northern Chad
which is then channel across the depression resulting in Dust storm graduating in

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 to jet stream and subsequently travelling thousands of kilometers westward and
finally getting settle on the Amazon rainforest of South America through rain fall.

Fig. 10: An imagery showing the geography of Bodele Depression and the Wind system from the

NASA World Wind:

The dry bowl that forms the depression is marked by a series of ephemeral lakes,
many of which were last filled during wetter periods of the Holocene. Dust storms
from the Bodl occur on an average of about 100 days per year. In accordance
to the NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites, indicated that these storms moves across
the Bodl Depression at about 47 km/h (29 mi/h. Diatoms from these fresh
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 water lakes, once part of the Mega-Lake Chad or the Bahr Nuhu , now make up
the surface of the depression and are the source material for the dust, which,
carried across the Atlantic Ocean and rains over the great Amazon rainforest
which is also known as the Amazon Jungle in South America with an Area of
5,500,000 km2 (2,123,562 mi2) and spread across various South American
countries including Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana,
Suriname and French Guiana among others.

Fig.11: Showing a sub-fossil skeleton of a 1.15 metre Nile Perch found in the

Bodl depression:

The Dust exported naturally through the Jet-stream from Bornu to the Amazon in South
America keeps sustaining the mighty Amazon rainforest which accounts for more than
30% of the worlds total rainforest and stands as one of the main oxygen-generating
sources for the entire globe by providing approximately 20% of earth's oxygen (O2 )
needs and also keeps providing food, medicines, shelter and protection to a large
portion of the Worlds biodiversity including threatened species as well as humans,
animals, microorganisms and many others in addition to its role of continues absorption
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of Carbon dioxide (CO2 ) in the Atmosphere and providing economic incomes for many
of the South America countries including Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador,
Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana among others.

Fig.12: Showing a Map of the Amazon rainforest of South America (A) and photo showing
a bird in the middle of the Amazon forest (B):

A. B.

Bahar-Nuhu and related Natural Resources:

Potassium and Sodium Carbonate were historically the major minerals extracted or
obtainable within the Bahar-Nuhu territory, but the Bahar-Nuhu area is now proving to be
much richer than earlier thought. Today it is no longer news that this area is richly blessed
with petroleum and Uranium natural mineral resources.

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Petroleum in the Bahar-Nuhu:The Agadem oilfield in Niger republic with an area of
27,516.2 square kilometres (10,624.1 sq mi), the Bilma oil block, Manga oilfields, Aborak
oilfield, the Tenere oil block as well as the Tintouma oilfield near Madama all in Niger
republic located within the Bahar-Nuhu historical territory are collectively estimated to be
holding a total petroleum reserves of about 11.7 billion barrels as at 2017. In addition the
Agadem oilfield along also holds approximately 10,000,000,000 cubic meters (3.51011 cu
ft) to 16,000,000,000 cubic meters (5.71011 cu ft) of natural gas reserves.

Fig.13: Dignitaries at the commissioning of the Niger oil refinery in Zunder republic of Niger and an oil
installation operating in one of the associated oil fields also in Niger:

Additionally all the oilfields in the republic of Chad especially those of the ERHC are all
located within the Bahar-Nuhu historical territory around the the Kanem-Prefecture, as at
today the oil reserve estimate in this Bahar-Nuhu part of Chad is around 19 billion barrels
as at 2017 plus approximately 21,000,000,000 cubic meters of natural gas reserve.

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So in view of the above the Bahar-Nuhu area of Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger is
believed to be holding between 85 to 134 billion barrels of petroleum reserves and
approximately 120,000,000,000 cubic meters to 160,000,000,000 cubic meters of natural
gas reserves.

Fig.14: GEOLOGICAL MAP OF Chad, Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon showing the potentials of Fossil fuel
reserves in the Chad basin area within the ancient Bahar-Nuhu territory:

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Uranium in the Bahar-Nuhu:The Bahar-Nuhu area is today supplying 11 % of the worlds
total annual mining output of highest-grade uranium ores. This is because almost all the
areas where Uranium is discovered in the republic of Niger which is the fourth leading
Uranium producing nation in the World ranging from that of Azelik, Madaouela, Arlette,
Ariege, Artois &Tassa/Taza , Imouraren and Akouta all falls within the Bahar-Nuhu dried
portions. The cumulative production of this mineral in this area as at the year 2011 was
summed at 114,346 tU part of which about 62,000 tU was from underground, and 52,000 t
from the open pit mining.
Water Reserves in the Bahar-Nuhu:Despite its limited surface area the Bahar-Nuhu
underground (under seabed) holds a huge reserve of underground water which is ranked
as one of the biggest water reserves of the world. This was confirmed by Researchers from
the British Geological Survey and University College London who mapped for the first time
the aquifers, or groundwater, across the African continent and the amount of water they
hold. This proves the reason why free flow boreholes is still existing in places like
Monguno, Marte, Guzamala, Baga as well as Diffa, Kanem and some parts of north western
Cameroon which were parts of the banks of the Bahr-Nuhu.

Conclusion:

Bahar- Nuhu which is an entirely body of water that gathered thousands of years back
gradually shrank to produce arable lands suitable for both settlement and agricultural
activities. The Kanuri people were one of the first settlers in the area and first to discover
that the Bahar-Nuhu was formed during the great flooding of prophet Nuhu era. Over
time in some 1200 years back the Kanuri people formed a dynasty they named after the
Bahar-Nuhu known in history as the Kanem-Bornu and later the Bornu Empire. The
name Bornu is found a place in many European, Mediterranean and the Arab history
books. However the size of the Bahar-Nuhu continuous to decline so as the political size
of Bornu as such that the size of Bahar-Nuhu of approximately 560,000 km2 in some
six to ten thousand years back gradually declined to just 1,350 km2 or 520 mi2 as at the
year 2005 so is with the political Bornu which is now a state in Nigeria with an Area of
just 70,898 km and a population of approximately 7 000 000 (Seven million). Despite
the declines political Bornu now Borno remains as major center of commerce, culture
and home of Durbar as well as center of learning/scholarship. While the Bahar-Nuhu
continues to supply resources and employment opportunities to million and keep
exporting its magical marine sediment Dust to the Amazon Forest in America which
accounts for more than 30% of the worlds total rainforest and stands as one of the
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main oxygen-generating sources for the entire globe by providing approximately 20%
of earth's oxygen (O2 ) needs and also keeps providing food, medicines, shelter and
protection to a large portion of the Worlds biodiversity including threatened species as
well as humans, animals, microorganisms and many others in addition to its role of
continues absorption of Carbon dioxide (CO2 ) in the Atmosphere and providing
economic incomes for many of the South America countries including Brazil, Peru,
Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana among
others.

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References:
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14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_rainforest

Author-BABAGANA ABUBAKAR

UNCCPP, Masters, B.Sc., Fellow African Scientific Institute

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