District heads play a prominent role in overseeing affairs in the thirty-three districts of the Adamawa Emirate. The district heads in what is called home districts are descendants of Ardo' en, while non-Fulbe district heads are either leaders of their respective ruling families or were chosen to be districts heads based on merit. The district heads are answerable to the Adamawa Emirate Council and to the Adamawa State Government also through the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

A good  description of the district heads was made by Shehu Malami, Sarkin Sudan Na Wurno, in a lecture at the Army Command and Staff College, Jaji in August 1978. He describes them as the encyclopedia of administration. Footnote 1

They know every single individual in their locality and have detailed knowledge of their movements. They know the location of all the farms and grazing grounds and to whom they belong and have even detailed knowledge of how many wives a particular man has, how many children, and their various ages. The ward head even knows how many herds of cattle or how many donkeys a particular person possesses. With this detailed knowledge of the area, security of the place is guaranteed. Indeed, one of the cardinal duties of the ward heads is to report movements of strangers with a view to preventing the villagers from harbouring thieves and other criminals. They must report immediately the occurrence of violent deaths and any outbreak of human or animal diseases... as well as any unusual movements of livestock, game and news of the appearance of locusts. They are even expected regularly to report the sighting of the new moon! In addition to all these duties, with other ward heads supervised by the village heads, they must play an active role in organising and implementing village social and economic activities such as adult education, community development etc. etc. etc. The district head, the village head's superior, is both the Emir's on-the-spot agent and official head of his district. He performs not only the task of coordination but also ensures that all the activities of the government are carried out according to laid down policies. His regular touring reports covering all aspects of life in the district, from the condition of crops on the farms to self-help efforts, from availability or scarcity of water or food to the conditions of various roads are sent to the emir, with copies to the local government and the state government officials concerned.

The Local Government Edict 1977 (as amended) provides that "the traditional councils shall continue to exercise such administrative powers and perform such functions in respect of districts.”  traditional councils and shall have power to appoint district heads using traditional methods and where these do not exist, a person shall qualify to contest the election if he is from the royal family from any village area. The Adamawa House of Assembly in November 1992 enacted the District Creation and Amendment Law stating that "where the traditional methods do not exist, village heads in a particular district would select three contestants whose names would be submitted to the traditional council out of which they would recommend only one name to the state governor for final approval."

With the establishment of the capital in Yola in 1841 the emirate's administrative structure expanded with the establishment of fiefdoms in the southern regions of Chamba and Verre headed by Hamidu and Bakari, the only two sons of Modibbo Adama who held any appointments during his lifetime. However, after the establishment of Yola as a permanent base, some of the Ardo' en established their governments with themselves as Lambe in defiance of the authority of the Lamido but had to submit again.

Lamido Lauwal's  reign  saw the establishment of fiefdoms and fortresses in the conquered areas in the west with the  appointment of the Lamido's brothers and clients to head the districts while slaves took charge of the fortresses. By 1860, the conquest of Chamba land by the Lamido led to the foundation of districts south of Yola such as Nassarawo which had its headquarters at Nyibango.

Settlements in the Bagale areas north of the Benue River which include Sangaje, Takkande, Girei and Wurodole were developed to serve as fortresses to protect the new Fulbe villages and grazing areas from attacks by  the Bata . These fortresses combined to form a district north of Yola owned by the Lamido in the charge of personal servants. Other major towns that developed from these fortresses are Ngurore, Namtari, Mayo Belwa, Wafango, Gijaro, Mayo Ine and Mayo Farang.

The establishment of districts in the north, west and south of the emirate capital, in addition to existing sub-emirates, was a further step in the expansion of the emirate and consolidation of Fulbe authority by Lamido Lauwal in the final subjugation of remaining independent ethnic groups. At the time of the imposition of British rule in 1901, the colonialists found an administrative structure in place where the districts were manned by loyal officials of the Lamido which came in handy for the imposition and operation of an indirect rule system in the emirate.

In the 1940s, the British colonial administration mapped out twentyseven districts namely - Nassarawo, Mubi, Balala, Mayo Belwa, Uba, Ga'anda, Chubunawa, Mambilla, Song, Gurin, Malabu, Girei, Madagali, Toungo, Mayo Farang, Kilba, Verre, Belel, Gashaka, Maiha, Binyeri, Sugu, Mayo Ine, Holma, Gurumpawo, Yandan Waka and Yebbi.

There was no major exercise in the province to either restructure or create new districts until 1991 when the Babangida Administration introduced a policy in line with the transition plan to civil rule. In May of that year, a 10-man-committee under the Director-General in the Deputy Governor's Office was set up to look into the possibility of creating more districts in Adamawa State. The committee had one member each representing the seven emirate and traditional councils. The Galadima represented Adamawa Emirate, while other members represented the Local Government and Political departments.

The committee studied the demands of the creation of new districts, harmonised recommendations of the various emirate and traditional councils and came up with recommendations to government for new districts based on the submissions of both the communities and emirate and traditional councils in the light of the existing economic and social factors in the state. The committee received memoranda from various individuals and communities in the state. In October 1991 (two months after the carving out of Taraba State), the Adamawa State Government announced the creation of forty-two new districts bringing the number to seventy-seven in the state and thirty-three in Adamawa Emirate. The population of Adamawa, according to the 1991 census, is 2,124,049; while 928,661 people are counted in the local government areas in the emirate.

Sequel to the appointment of new district heads, Lamido Aliyu Musdafa personally attended the turbaning ceremonies in all the new districts. In most cases, he spent the night in the headquarters which was regarded as an honor by the host communities. At each installation, the Lamido implored the new helmsmen to discharge their duties with transparent honesty and commitment to government policies for the overall development of their respective domains. The climax of the ceremony was usually the conferment of a traditional title on the district head by the Lamido.

DISTRICT HEADS TABLE

1. The Emirate Council
2. The Title Holders
3. The King Makers
4. The Palace Officials

See Exclusive Photo Galleries:

1. State Council of Emirs Photo Gallery
2. Title Holders Photo Gallery
3. Palace Officials Photo Gallery

See also other Photo Galleries:

1. The Bloodline Photo Gallery
2. The ICON Photo Gallery
3. Emirate Council Photo Gallery