Introduction

Nigeria today has over 160 million people with over 350 distinct ethnic groups. Must of them have different customs, traditions and languages. The larger and dominants groups includes: The Hausa , Yoruba, Igbo and Fulani. The larger concentration of the smallest ethnic groups are found in the middle belt were there are mothan 200 ethnic groups. Over the years, the people of Nigeria have been exposed to various influence accross the sahara (in the 10 century) as well as from Europe (in the 15th century). The geographical location of each group have been a major factor in the type and source of the dominant influence that has experienced for better understanding for the people of Nigeria. These can be group into two categories as follows:
(1) The forest belt and
(2) The savannah grass land.
In brief, the forest belt people can otherwise be understood as the Southern part of the Nigeria ( southwest and southeast). This article focus mainly on the Savannah people of the country which are mainly known as Northern people of Nigeria. The savannah people are better understood as the of the middle belt and those of the far north. The midle belt is noted for a large number of very small ethnic groups including people on the Jos, Plateau state and Adamawa highlands. The major people here are that of Venue valley and the Nupe on the Niger Valley. politically, the people of middle belt are not centralized. The non- centralised people of Nigeria consisted of groups whom ethnic territory is so grounded that the people experienced acute shortage of farm lands, evident from Tiv, Igbo and Ibibio land shows that in every ones crowded community is heavily demand for farm land, make it possible for any one centrak authority to emerged and encourage individuals land ownership as was practice in the Yoruba, Benin and Hausa land. In the far north or more upen grass land, is most numerous and politically dominant groups are the Fulani, Hausa and Kanuri. Now in these vast area, Hausa is the most widely spoken language before 1804 (Fulani jahad). The Hausa had evolved a centralised politcal system which is described as City states ( of independence). Some of their states were; Kano, Zaria, Katsina, Gobir, Zamfara. The success of the Jihad in 1808 brought all existing independent Hausa states under the umbrella of Sokote caliphate with the khalifa as the head of affairs. While emirs took charge od the previous components of the huge states. Like Yoruba in the southwest, the Hausa of northern Nigeria are settled farmers as well as skilled craft men, they are described as the most travel traders in west Africa. In Nigeria, they are responsible for organising the trade in cattle and colla-nuts between western Nigeria and the north. They transported collanuts from the west through the savannah to the sudan and sahel zones were they are of great demand.
Also in the savannah are the Kanuri of Bornu and Yobe state, Like the Hausa, the Kanuri are muslims. However, Islam was already well established in Bornu before the Fulani Jihad.
Politically, the kanuri was able to established an empire known as the KANEM Bornu empire which survived for centuries (100 years). these empires oncorporated several communities and hundred of peoples, although the Fulani made several efforts to conquer Bornu but they never succeeded in doing so. Most kanuri's like Hausa are settled farmers and traders.