Welcome to Borno, Nigeria - The Home of Peace!

"The Home of Peace" - This acronym well fits Borno State as the State is known for its peaceful and hospitable nature despite its diverse differences in terms of history, religion, culture and languages amongst others. A brief on the State is all that is required to make a visitor to Borno State feel at home.

People have been living in the Chad basin area even before the empires of Kanem and Borno were founded. The basin which stretches from the Tibesti Mountain in the north, the Mandara Mountains in the South, from the ancient town of Air in the West to the Ennedi in the east has an area of open water which had once covered its wider parts. Although the shorelines still varies, it has been relatively confined to its present size for over 4,000 years. According to oral traditions, the Teda (Tibesti), Kanuri and Kanemba who lived around the lake and the rivers were called Sao. Legend described them not only as giants and famous hunters but also as people who have founded towns.

Archaeological evidence shows that the early societies around then lake were farmers and fisherman and the occurrence of cattle and sheep bones at settlements sites indicate that animal husbandry was another economic activity. The presence of huge clay vessels in and around Borno towns of Ngala and Ndufu proved great skills in ceramic technology of the settlers. Some historical sites in Borno and outside have also revealed a great wealth in artifacts.

The people known as Sao were in the 15th and 16th centuries displaced by the Sefawa when they settled in Borno. This would have been the time when the corpus of oral traditions were formed. The ancient Sefawa dynasty is said to be Second only to the Ming dynasty as the longest, ruling dynasty in man's history.