Wase, Nigeria

19th century

Historical records indicate that the founders of Wase town were the Fulani, who established the settlement in 1813AD during the Jihad of Shehu Usman Danfodio of blessed memory, the movement that culminated in the rise of the Nineteenth Century Sokoto Caliphate. Wase was deliberately founded to support the effective prosecution of the Jihad along the south-eastern flank of the Bauchi territory within the expanding Caliphate. Consequently, the town became one of the most formidable military outposts in the Bauchi region for the nineteenth-century Jihadists, particularly during the formative years of the Caliphate, which was founded and administered on the Islamic legal system instituted by the late Shehu Usman Danfodio and his pupils.

The founder of Wase was Giwa, a prominent Fulani who originally resided in Wuro Mayo in the then Bauchi region. Around 1813AD, he migrated to the Wase area and established the town. After founding the settlement, the itinerant Giwa continued to travel between Wase and Bauchi for about five years. He died at Wuro Mayo around 1816, leaving behind three sons — Hassan, Abdu and Umaru — from whom the three traditional ruling houses of Wase emerged. Supporting this historical account, A. H. Kirk-Green stated on page 48 of the Gazetteers of the Northern Provinces of Nigeria that: “Giwa, a Fulani living at Wuro Mayo in Bauchi, was the founder of the Wase dynasty. He came to the Wase country… making friends with Jukun who were living near the present town of Wase.”^{[citation needed]}

Similarly, J. M. Freemantle observed: “Giwa, a Fulani living at Wuro Mayo in Bauchi, was the original founder of the Wase dynasty. He came to the Wase country and, as he liked it, he continued going backwards and forwards for five years, making friends with the Jukun who were living near the present town of Wase. Giwa died at Wuro Mayo, about 1816, leaving three sons, Hassan, Abdu and Umoru.”^{[citation needed]}

The Fulani Emirate of Wase was subsequently founded by Hassan, the eldest son of Giwa, between 1817AD and 1820AD. After his father's death, Hassan became the Madaki of Bauchi under Mallam Yakubu, the flag-bearer of the Jihad in the Bauchi region and the founder of the Bauchi Emirate. Madaki Hassan had studied under Shehu Usman Danfodio, and when Danfodio dispatched Mallam Yakubu—one of his most prominent pupils—to mobilise supporters in the region, Hassan accompanied him. Upon the formal commencement of the Jihad in Bauchi, when Malam Yakubu received the flag of authority, he appointed Hassan as his Chief of Cavalry with the title of Madaki, and together they returned to Bauchi to prosecute the campaign.

During the course of the Jihad, Malam Yakubu and Madaki Hassan visited Wase, the settlement founded by Hassan's late father and a place for which Hassan had developed a strong affinity. At this time, Madaki Hassan expressed his desire to settle permanently in Wase owing to its favourable climate and the presence of the renowned Wase Rock. Mallam Yakubu acceded to this request, reportedly mindful of an earlier caution from Sultan Muhammadu Bello, the son of Shehu Usman Danfodio, who had advised him to be circumspect about the growing power and influence of Madaki Hassan.

Subsequently, the two leaders wrote a letter to the Sultan in Sokoto seeking approval to establish the city of Wase. Permission was granted, with the condition that the town be built on the northern side of the Wase Rock. In compliance, the town of Wase was constructed, and Malam Yakubu formally entrusted the entire territory to Madaki Hassan, who developed it into his headquarters and laid the foundations of what became the Fulani Emirate of Wase.

Later on Wase became part of the British Royal Niger Company protectorate (later Northern Nigeria) following the arrival of British troops in 1898. Wase was a part of Plateau Province.

21st century

In February 2026, a significant gas leak occurred at a lead and zinc mine in the town owned by Solid Unity Nigeria Ltd., killing at least 33 people.^[5]