Brief history of Gona Emirate council Akko, the Gona Emirate has a land area of 1,278sq Km one thousand two hundred and seventy-eight square kilometres and a population of 97,322 per 2011 registered voter at minimum of 500 legible voters per unit, the emirate has 135 polling unit.
Gona Emirate surrounded Gombe metropolis area on the south it borders Gombe at the stream begin Kadabu’s house (shongo Housing Estate). On the north close to Gombe State University up to kurba in Yamaltu Deba Local Government Area, also Gona Emirate borders Kwami with Shongo Hamma and Bula Kyari District and Kirfi Local Government Area of Bauchi State.
Under Gona Emirate there are four (4) ward’s namely:
| S/N | WARDS | NUMBER OFDISTRICT HEAD | NUMBER OF VILLAGE HEADS | NUMBER OF WARD HEADS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AKKO | 5 | 19 | 399 |
| GARKO | 7 | 24 | 437 | |
| TUKULMA | 2 | 6 | 145 | |
| KALSHINGI | 3 | 159 |
All that could be remembered of the early years of Gona history is that about fourteenth century when a group of Fulani herdmen migrated from Mali and Senegal and settled in Sume (Borno province) they settled for a long period waja where ardo Sajo married the daughter of chief of waja who bore him four children i.e two male and two female. Later Ardo Sajo and his people decided to migrate towards west the cause of their migration according to the oral traditional is due to the scarcity of drinking water. But the chief prevented him from taking his wife and their children. Ardo Sajo left the retinue of his family at Waja and moved to Pindiga during the reign of sarkun Pindiga Wurkana, who is practicing traditional religion.
Ardo Sajo appealed to Sarkin Pindiga Wurkani to mobilize a powerful force to reckon with to help and bring back his family from Waja, but instead of doing so, the sarkn Pindiga gave him his daughter Maira Baddi. Ardo Sajo married Maira Baddi daughter of Sarkin Pindiga Wurkani who bore him a son Muhammadu Kursajo, and his father in-low Sarkin pindiga Wurkani gave him a piece of land in the northern part of Pindiga to settled with his new bride and that place is said to be Sumbe IMnow (Pindiga Emirate).
It is said by the historians that the children that Ardo Sajo left Waja had migrated to Kunde (Dukku Emirate) where they are known as Fulbe Jara.
Muhammadu Kursajo son of Ardo Sajo married a daughter of their neighbour who bore him four childrens i.e three males and one female namely: Muhammadu Sambo, Buba Maliki, Umaru Ndudi’and Aishatu Ngirma, Umaru Ndudi was blessed with four children’s and female namely: Asta Dembo, Hamma Bose, Muhammadu Kuru, Hamman Bose, son of Muhammdu Ndudi was also blessed with many children’s and almost all of them were said to have been turbaned AS Galadima Gombe.
However, Muhammadu Sambo son of muhammadu Kursajo was blessed with a child known as Sulaiman (Ardo Sule) later Sulaiman son of Muhammadu Sambo married Aishatu who bore him two children’s i.e. Amadu Dembu(Amadu Gona) and also Ardo Buba. Amadu Dembo (Amadu Gona) received his Quränic knowledge from his father.
Ardo Sule the father of Amado Gona was the first person to become the Ardo of Akko he was succeeded by his son Ardo Buba later Ardo manga the son of ardo buba took the throne, then he was also succeeded by his brother Ardo Adamu Bauchi who was also succeeded by his son Adamu Tukur and later Ardo Tukur was succeeded by his brother Ardo Sarki then Ardo Abdulssalam the son of Ardo Manga succeeded his uncle Ardo Sarki and he was later succeeded by his son Ardo Usmanu later Ardo Usmanu was succeeded by his brother Ardo Umaru in 1078 the Emir of Gona Alhaji Abdulkadir Abdulssalam was installed as Ardo Akko
in succession to his brother Umaru on 24th /09/ 1978 the office he held until he was promoted to the rank of District Head of Kaltanga(from 2001-2003), District Head of Amada Gona (from 2004-2010)until when he was enthroned as the Emir of Gona on 10th/08/2010 following the creation of Gona Emirate Council09/08/2010
ECONOMY
The economy of Gona Emirate is mainly agricultural, trade in cattle’s, sheeps and goats also contributed immensely towards the economic development of the state cash crops, including groundnuts, and cotton, food crops like maize, guinea corn and millet are grown extensively in the area.
CULTURE AND TRADITIONS
The people of Gona Emirate have a rich culture and traditions which is deeply rooted in the two main religions of Islam and Christianity.
Gona Emirate is predominantly Islamic, the people mode of dress, their tradition including funeral rites, naming ceremonies, marriage and other social activities reflect the teaching of Islam.
Gona emirate is blessed with seventeen (17) district head’s and fifty-nine (59) villages Heads with (1140) ward head’s known as (jauro/mai anguwa).
| S/N | NAME | ADDRESS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | International Airport Gombe | Lawanti |
| 2 | International Conference Center | Lafiyawo AKKO |
| 3 | Gombe state House of Assembly | Bye-pass |
| 4 | High Court of justice Gombe | Bye-pass |
| 5 | Federal High Court | Lafiya Mango |
| 6 | Demmo Aluminium Company Ltd | Lafiya Mango |
| 7 | NNPC Depot Gombe | Tunfure |
| 8 | N.T.A Gombe | Lafiya mango |
| 9 | GMTV | Mile3 |
| 10 | National Library Gombe | Mile3 |
| 11 | GGSS Doma | Bogo |
| 12 | GGSTC Amada | Amada |
| 13 | Gombe International Hotel | Mile3 |
| 14 | Yahaya Ahmed Model school | Lafiya mango |
| 15 | Pen Resource Academy Gombe | Lafiyawo |
| 16 | A.I.T Radio Television | Lafiya mango |
| 17 | Progress FM radio Gombe | Lafiya mango |
| 18 | Science village academy | Bye-pass |
| 19 | Umolin table water | Bye-pass |
| 20 | Gombe oil mill gogo | Bogo |
| 21 | Three(3) ginneries bogo | Bogo |
The creation of additional state in the year 1996 and the transformation of local Government system of administration from the former local Authorities to the local Government Areas following the Dasuki Local Government Reforms, Gombe continue to maintain its status as the Zonal headquarters and commercial nerve centre of the default Bauchi state and the present days ( Gombe State.)
During the reign of Emir Zailani (1882–1888) a religious zealot, Mallam Jibril Gaini, established himself at Burmi on the border between Gombe and Fika. Gaini managed to hold out for years against the combined forces of Gombe and neighboring emirates, and was finally defeated and exiled by the British Royal Niger Company in 1902. The British conquered Gombe at the battle of Tongo in 1902. They moved the capital of Gombe to Nafada in 1913, and moved the capital again in 1919 to the present Gombe town. Waja was separated from Gombe in 1930 to become an independent District. However, the Waja headmen chose Sarkin Yaki of Gombe, brother of the former Emir Umaru dan Muhammadu, as their chief.
The British had set up the Gombe Native Authority system, which continued to function after independence in 1960. In 1976, the military regime of Olusegun Obasanjo broke up the Native Authority into the Gombe, Akko and Dukku Local Government Areas. In 2002, Gombe State Governor Abubakar Habu Hashidu broke up Gombe Emirate into parts, ruled by 2nd Class Emirs and two Senior District Heads. The following year Governor Mohammed Danjuma Goje created two additional Senior District Heads. This has reduced the authority of the Emir at a time of increasing conflict between farmers and nomadic Udawa herders, compounded by violence from extremist religious groups.
Rulers of Gombe Emirate:
| Start | End | Ruler |
|---|---|---|
| 1804 | 1841 | Abubakar “Buba Yero” dan Usman Subande (b. c.1762 – d. 1841) |
| 1841 | 1844 | Sulaymanu dan Abubakar (d. 1844) |
| 1844 | 1882 | Muhammadu Kwairanga dan Abi Bakar (d. 1882) |
| 1882 | 1888 | Abd al-Qadiri Zaylani dan Muhammadu (d. 1888) |
| 1888 | 1895 | Hasan dan Muhammadu (d. 1895) |
| 1895 | 1898 | Tukur dan Muhammadu (d. 1898) |
| 1898 | 1898 | Jalo dan Muhammadu |
| 1898 | 1922 | Umaru dan Muhammadu (d. 1922) |
| 1922 | 1935 | Haruna dan Umaru (d. 1935) |
| January 1936 | January 1984 | Abu Bakar dan Umaru (b. 1902) |
| January 1984 | May 27, 2014 | Shehu Usman Abubakar |
| June 2014 | Present | Abubakar Shehu Abubakar III (b. 1977) |
