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  Benin
  Benin ⁱ/bɨˈniːn/ (formerly, Dahomey), officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, by Nigeria to the east and by Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. A majority of the population live on its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin. The capital of Benin is Porto-Novo, but the seat of government is in Cotonou, the country's largest city. Benin covers an area of approximately 110,000 square kilometers (42,000 sq mi), with a population of approximately 9.05 million. Benin is a tropical, sub-Saharan nation, highly dependent on agriculture, with substantial employment and income arising from subsistence farming.
  The official language of Benin is French, however, indigenous languages such as Fon and Yoruba are commonly spoken. The largest religious group in Benin is Roman Catholicism, followed closely by Islam, Vodun and Protestantism. Benin is a member of the United Nations, the African Union, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone, La Francophonie, the Community of Sahel-Saharan States, the African Petroleum Producers Association and the Niger Basin Authority.
  
  wn.com/Benin
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  Burkina Faso
  Burkina Faso (ⁱ/bərˌkiːnə ˈfɑːsoʊ/ bər-KEE-nə FAH-soh; French: [buʁkina faso]) – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest. The country's capital is Ouagadougou.
  Its size is 274,200 square kilometres (105,900 sq mi) with an estimated population of more than 15,757,000. Formerly called the Republic of Upper Volta, it was renamed on 4 August 1984, by President Thomas Sankara, to mean "the land of upright people" in Mòoré and Dioula, the major native languages of the country. Figuratively, "Burkina" may be translated, "men of integrity", from the Mòoré language, and "Faso" means "fatherland" in Dioula. The inhabitants of Burkina Faso are known as Burkinabè ( /bərˈkiːnəbeɪ/ bər-KEE-nə-bay).
  Burkina Faso was populated between 14,000 and 5000 BC by hunter-gatherers in the country's northwestern region. Farm settlements appeared between 3600 and 2600 BC. What is now central Burkina Faso was principally composed of Mossi kingdoms. These Mossi Kingdoms would become a French protectorate in 1896. After gaining independence from France in 1960, the country underwent many governmental changes until arriving at its current form, a semi-presidential republic. The president is Blaise Compaoré.
  
  wn.com/Burkina_Faso
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  Cameroon
  Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon (French: République du Cameroun), is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the Bight of Bonny, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. The country is called "Africa in miniature" for its geological and cultural diversity. Natural features include beaches, deserts, mountains, rainforests, and savannas. The highest point is Mount Cameroon in the southwest, and the largest cities are Douala, Yaoundé, and Garoua. Cameroon is home to over 200 different linguistic groups. The country is well known for its native styles of music, particularly makossa and bikutsi, and for its successful national football team. French and English are the official languages.
  Early inhabitants of the territory included the Sao civilisation around Lake Chad and the Baka hunter-gatherers in the southeastern rainforest. Portuguese explorers reached the coast in the 15th century and named the area Rio dos Camarões ("River of Prawns"), the name from which Cameroon derives. Fulani soldiers founded the Adamawa Emirate in the north in the 19th century, and various ethnic groups of the west and northwest established powerful chiefdoms and fondoms. Cameroon became a German colony in 1884.
  
  wn.com/Cameroon
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  Camp Boiro
  Camp Boiro or Camp Mamadou Boiro (1960 – 1984) is a defunct Guinean concentration camp within Conakry city. During the regime of President Ahmed Sékou Touré, thousands of political opponents were imprisoned at the camp. It has been estimated that almost 5,000 people were executed or died from torture or starvation at the camp.
  Sékou Touré became president of Guinea when the country gained independence from France in 1958. Over the years that followed, his regime became increasingly repressive, persecuting opposition leaders and dissidents from within the ruling Guinean Democratic Party (PDG). The camp, situated in the center of Conakry, was originally called Camp Camyenne. The camp was constructed with assistance from the Czechoslovak government. In 1961 the commandant had the windows reduced in size, since they were too large for condemned men. The camp was renamed Camp Mamadou Boiro in 1969 in honor of a police commissioner who had been thrown from a helicopter in which he was transporting prisoners from Labé to Conakry.
  
  wn.com/Camp_Boiro
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  Chad
  Chad ⁱ/ˈtʃæd/ (French: Tchad, Arabic: تشاد‎ Tšād), officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west. Due to its distance from the sea and its largely desert climate, the country is sometimes referred to as the "Dead Heart of Africa".
  Chad is divided into multiple regions: a desert zone in the north, an arid Sahelian belt in the centre and a more fertile Sudanese savanna zone in the south. Lake Chad, after which the country is named, is the largest wetland in Chad and the second largest in Africa. Chad's highest peak is the Emi Koussi in the Sahara, and N'Djamena, (formerly Fort-Lamy), the capital, is the largest city. Chad is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups. Arabic and French are the official languages. Islam and Christianity are the most widely practiced religions.
  Beginning in the 7th millennium BC, human populations moved into the Chadian basin in great numbers. By the end of the 1st millennium BC, a series of states and empires rose and fell in Chad's Sahelian strip, each focused on controlling the trans-Saharan trade routes that passed through the region. France conquered the territory by 1920 and incorporated it as part of French Equatorial Africa.
  
  wn.com/Chad
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  Egypt
  Egypt ⁱ/ˈiːdʒɪpt/ (Arabic: مصر, Miṣr, Egyptian Arabic: [mɑsˤɾ] ; Coptic: Ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, Kīmi ; Sahidic Coptic: ⲕⲏⲙⲉ, Kēme), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic:  جمهوريّة مصر العربيّة (help·info), is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Covering an area of about 1,010,000 square kilometers (390,000 sq mi), Egypt is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west.
  Egypt is one of the most populous countries in Africa and the Middle East. The great majority of its over 81 million people live near the banks of the Nile River, in an area of about 40,000 square kilometers (15,000 sq mi), where the only arable land is found. The large areas of the Sahara Desert are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypt's residents live in urban areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria and other major cities in the Nile Delta.
  
  wn.com/Egypt
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  Eket
  Eket is the second largest city in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The name also refers to the indigenous ethnic group of the region and to their language. The city itself, an industrial city that in recent years has become a conurbation engulfing separate villages, has a population of over 200,000, while entire urban area, which covers Nsit Ubium, Afaha Eket and Esit Eket, has a combined population of 364,489, the second largest urban population in Akwa Ibom state.
  An oil refinery is currently under construction in the outskirts of the city along the Oron road. The city has a stadium complex, an airstrip as well as other infrastructures of importance. It also has a number of hotels such as Villa Marina, Royalty Hotels, Crystal Palace Hotel, Roseboom Hotels, and others.
  Eket due to its industrial nature is a relatively expensive city. The government has plans of upgrading the city by the provision of further major roads in the city and the construction of housing estates.
  In the 1990s, western environmentalists were concerned over the activities of oil exploitation in and around Eket, such as Shell and Mobil. The area is now newly "oil-rich" and Eket is the thriving hub of a new oil and gas business, with more than 250 companies providing support services such as catering, flights, and exports. However, this success has caused problems, especially a reluctance by local young men to engage in traditional work such as fishing. There are vocal local campaigns to increase the percentage of oil revenue that is given to the local community. Eket as an ethnic group comprises Eket, Esit Eket, Ibeno and Onna L.G.As
  
  wn.com/Eket
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  Fouta Djallon
  Fouta Djallon is a highland region in the centre of Guinea, West Africa. The indigenous name is Fuuta-Jaloo (sometimes spelled Fuuta Jalon; Fouta Djallon is a French spelling; in English it is sometimes also written Futa Jalon). The origin of the name is from the Fula word for the region and the name of the original inhabitants, the Jalonke or Djallonké.
  Fouta Djallonke consists mainly of rolling grasslands, at an average elevation of about 900m (3,000 ft). The highest point, Mount Loura, rises to 1,515m (4,970 ft). The plateau consists of thick sandstone formations which overlie granitic basement rock. Erosion by rain and rivers has carved deep jungle canyons and valleys into the sandstone.The word Djallonke originated from the people who originally occupied highlands of Guinea commonly known as SUSU.Djallonke and SUSU are interchangeable.
  It receives a great deal of rainfall, and the headwaters of three major rivers, the Niger River, the Gambia River and the Senegal River, have their sources on it. It is thus sometimes called the watertower (chateau d'eau in French literature) of West Africa. Some authors also refer to Fouta Jallonke as the Switzerland of West Africa.^{[citation needed]}
  
  wn.com/Fouta_Djallon
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  Ghana
  Ghana ⁱ/ˈɡɑːnə/ is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. The word Ghana means "Warrior King" and is derived from the ancient Ghana Empire.
  Ghana was inhabited in pre-colonial times by a number of ancient predominantly Akan kingdoms, including the inland Ashanti Empire, the Akwamu, the Akyem, the Bonoman, the Denkyira, and the Fante among others. Non-Akan states created by the Ga also existed as did states by the Dagomba. Prior to contact with Europeans trade between the Akan and various African states flourished due to Akan's gold wealth. Trade with European states began after contact with the Portuguese in the 15th century, and the British established the Gold Coast Crown colony in 1874 over parts but not all of the country.
  The Gold Coast achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1957, becoming the First sub-Saharan African nation to do so from European Colonialism. The name Ghana was chosen for the new nation to reflect the ancient Empire of Ghana, which once extended throughout much of west Africa.
  
  wn.com/Ghana
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  Guinea
  Guinea ⁱ/ˈɡɪni/, officially the Republic of Guinea (French: République de Guinée), is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea (Guinée française), it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau and the Republic of Equatorial Guinea. Guinea has almost 246,000 square kilometres (94,981 sq mi) and a population of 10,057,975. It forms a crescent by curving from its western border on the Atlantic Ocean toward the east and the south. Its northern border is shared with Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, and Mali, the southern one with Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Côte d'Ivoire. The Niger River's source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea.
  Guinea is geographically divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures. Conakry is the capital, largest city and economic centre. The other major cities in the country include Kankan, Nzérékoré, Kindia, Labe, Guéckédou, Mamou and Boke.
  Guinea's 10 million people belong to twenty-four ethnic groups. The largest and most prominent groups are the Fula 40%, Mandingo 30%, and Susu 20%.
  
  wn.com/Guinea
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  Guinea Bissau
  Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ⁱ/ˈɡɪni bɪˈsaʊ/ (Portuguese: República da Guiné-Bissau, pronounced: [ʁeˈpublikɐ dɐ ɡiˈnɛ biˈsaw]), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west. It covers 36,125 km² (nearly 14,000 sq mi) with an estimated population of 1,600,000.
  Guinea-Bissau was once part of the kingdom of Gabu, as well as part of the Mali Empire. Parts of this kingdom persisted until the 18th century, while a few others were part of the Portuguese Empire since the 16th century. It then became the Portuguese colony of Portuguese Guinea in the 19th century. Upon independence, declared in 1973 and recognised in 1974, the name of its capital, Bissau, was added to the country's name to prevent confusion with the bordering Republic of Guinea. Guinea-Bissau has a history of political instability since gaining independence and no elected president has successfully served a full five-year term. On the evening of 12 April 2012, members of the country's military staged a coup and arrested the interim president and a leading presidential candidate. The military has yet to declare a current leader for the country. However, former vice chief of staff, General Mamadu Ture Kuruma took the care of the country in the transitional period and started negotiations with opposition parties.
  
  wn.com/Guinea_Bissau
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  Ijaw people
  Ijaw (also known by the subgroups "Ijo" or "Izon") are a collection of peoples indigenous mostly to the forest regions of the Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers States within the Niger Delta in Nigeria. Some are natives of Akwa-Ibom, Edo, and Ondo states also in Nigeria. Many are found as migrant fishermen in camps as far west as Sierra Leone and as far east as Gabon along the Western Africa coastline. They are believed to be some of the earliest inhabitants of southern Nigeria.
  The Ijo people number about 15 million. They have long lived in locations near many sea trade routes, and they were well connected to other areas by trade as early as the 15th century. The current President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, is an Ijaw.
  The Ijaw speak nine closely related Niger–Congo languages, all of which belong to the Ijoid branch of the Niger–Congo tree. The primary division between the Ijo languages is that between Eastern Ijo and Western Ijo, the most important of the former group of languages being Izon, which is spoken by about four million people.
  
  wn.com/Ijaw_people
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  Liberia
  Liberia ⁱ/laɪˈbɪəriə/, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Ivory Coast on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open to a plateau of drier grasslands. The country possesses 40% of the remaining Upper Guinean rainforest. Liberia has a hot equatorial climate, with significant rainfall during the May to October rainy season and harsh harmattan winds the remainder of the year. Liberia covers an area of 111,369 km² (43,000 sq mi) and is home to about 3.7 million people. English is the official language, while over 30 indigenous languages are spoken within the country.
  Along with Ethiopia, Liberia is one of the two modern countries in Sub-Saharan Africa without roots in the European colonization of Africa. Beginning in 1820, the region was colonized by freed American slaves with the help of the American Colonization Society, a private organization that believed ex-slaves would have greater freedom and equality in Africa. Slaves freed from slave ships were also sent there instead of being repatriated to their countries of origin. In 1847, these colonists founded the Republic of Liberia, establishing a government modeled on that of the United States and naming the capital city Monrovia after James Monroe, the fifth president of the United States and a prominent supporter of the colonization. The colonists, known as Americo-Liberians, led the political and economic sectors of the country.
  
  wn.com/Liberia
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  Mali
  Mali ⁱ/ˈmɑːli/, officially the Republic of Mali (French: République du Mali, French pronunciation: [maˈli]), is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with a population of 14.5 million. Its capital is Bamako. Mali consists of eight regions and its borders on the north reach deep into the middle of the Sahara, while the country's southern part, where the majority of inhabitants live, features the Niger and Sénégal rivers. The country's economic structure centers around agriculture and fishing. Some of Mali's natural resources are gold, uranium, livestock, and salt. About half the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day.
  Present-day Mali was once part of three West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade: the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire (from which Mali is named), and the Songhai Empire. In the late 19th century, during the Scramble for Africa, France seized control of Mali making it a part of French Sudan. French Sudan (then known as the Sudanese Republic) joined with Senegal in 1959, achieving independence in 1960 as the Mali Federation. Shortly thereafter, following Senegal's withdrawal from the federation, the Sudanese Republic declared itself the independent Republic of Mali. After a long period of one-party rule, a 1991 coup led to the writing of a new constitution and the establishment of Mali as a democratic, multi-party state. On 22 March, 2012, a group of junior soldiers seized control of the country's presidential palace and declared the government dissolved and its constitution suspended. On 6 April, 2012, rebels from the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) declared the secession of a new state, Azawad, from Mali.
  
  wn.com/Mali
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  Mauritania
  Mauritania ⁱ/mɔrɪˈteɪniə/ (Arabic: موريتانيا‎ Mūrītānyā; Berber: Muritanya / Agawej; Wolof: Gànnaar; Soninke: Murutaane; Pulaar: Moritani; French: Mauritanie), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a country in West Africa and in the Maghreb. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara (controlled by Morocco) in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest. It is named after the ancient Berber Kingdom of Mauretania, which later became a province of the Roman Empire, even though the modern Mauritania covers a territory far to the south of the old Berber kingdom that had no relation with it. The capital and largest city is Nouakchott, located on the Atlantic coast.
  The government of Mauritania was overthrown on 6 August 2008, in a military coup d'état led by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. On 16 April 2009, General Aziz resigned from the military to run for president in the 19 July elections, which he won. In Mauritania about 20% of the population live on less than US$1.25 per day.
  
  wn.com/Mauritania
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  Mopti
  Mopti (Pronounced Mohti) is a city at the confluence of the Niger and the Bani in Mali, between Timbuktu and Ségou. The city lies on three islands linked by dykes: the New Town, the Old Town and Medina Coura. As a result it is sometimes known as the "Venice of Mali".
  The city of Mopti derives its name from the Fulfulde word for gathering. The islands had long been inhabited, but Mopti was only founded in the nineteenth century as part of the Massina Empire, later becoming the base of El Hadj Umar Tall. With French domination, Mopti became known for its egret feather industry.
  Due to the limited land available, Mopti is very densely built compared to most Malian cities, containing many multi-story buildings and narrow streets. Originally, the islands were much smaller than they are today; first linked by dykes in the early twentieth century, the areas around and between natural islands have been gradually filled and raised—often by deposition of household trash, a process that still continues today in areas such as the western edge of the Old Town.
  
  wn.com/Mopti
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  Niger
  Niger (French pronunciation: [niʒɛʁ], but occasionally pronounced as /niːˈʒɛər/ or ⁱ/ˈnaɪdʒər/), officially the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east. Niger covers a land area of almost 1,270,000 km², making it the largest nation in West Africa, with over 80 percent of its land area covered by the Sahara desert. The country's predominantly Islamic population of just above 15,000,000 is mostly clustered in the far south and west of the nation. The capital city is Niamey, located in the far southwest corner of Niger.
  Niger is a developing country, and consistently ranks as one of the lowest ranks of the United Nations' Human Development Index (HDI), 186th of 187 countries in 2011. Much of the non-desert portions of the country are threatened by periodic drought and desertification. The economy is concentrated around subsistence and some export agriculture clustered in the more fertile south, and the export of raw materials, especially uranium ore. Niger remains handicapped by its landlocked position, desert terrain, poor education and poverty of its people, lack of infrastructure, poor health care, and environmental degradation.
  
  wn.com/Niger
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  Nigeria
  Nigeria ⁱ/naɪˈdʒɪəriə/, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in the north. Its coast in the south lies on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean. The three largest and most influential ethnic groups in Nigeria are the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.
  In terms of religion Nigeria is roughly split half and half between Muslims in the North and Christians in the South; a very small minority practice traditional religion. Since 2002 there have been a spate of clashes, particularly in the North of the country, between government forces and the Islamists Boko Haram, militant jihadists who seek to establish sharia law.
  The people of Nigeria have an extensive history. Archaeological evidence shows that human habitation of the area dates back to at least 9000 BCE. The area around the Benue and Cross River is thought to be the original homeland of the Bantu migrants who spread across most of central and southern Africa in waves between the 1st millennium BC and the 2nd millennium.
  
  wn.com/Nigeria
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  Senegal
  Senegal ⁱ/ˌsɛnɨˈɡɔːl/ (French: le Sénégal), officially the Republic of Senegal (République du Sénégal, IPA: [ʁepyblik dy seneɡal]), is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north. Senegal is externally bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south; internally it almost completely surrounds The Gambia, namely on the north, east and south, exempting Gambia's short Atlantic Ocean coastline. Senegal covers a land area of almost 197,000 square kilometres (76,000 sq mi), and has an estimated population of about 13 million. The climate is tropical with two seasons: the dry season and the rainy season.
  Dakar, the capital city of Senegal, is located at the westernmost tip of the country on the Cap-Vert peninsula. About 500 kilometres (300 mi) off the coast, in the Atlantic Ocean, lie the Cape Verde Islands. During the 17th and 18th centuries, numerous trading posts, belonging to various colonial empires, were established along the coast. The town of St. Louis became the capital of French West Africa (Afrique occidentale française, or AOF) before it was moved to Dakar in 1902. Dakar later became its capital in 1960 at the time of independence from France.
  
  wn.com/Senegal
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  Senegal River
  The Sénégal River (French: Fleuve Sénégal) is a 1,790 km (1,110 mi) long river in West Africa that forms the border between Senegal and Mauritania.
  The Sénégal's headwaters are the Semefé (Bakoye) and Bafing rivers which both originate in Guinea; they form a small part of the Guinean-Malian border before coming together at Bafoulabé in Mali. From there, the Senegal river flows west and then north through Talari Gorges near Galougo and over the Gouina Falls, then flows more gently past Kayes, where it receives the Kolimbiné. After flowing together with the Karakoro, it prolongs the former's course along the Mali-Mauritanian border for some tens of kilometers till Bakel where it flows together with the Falémé River, which also has its source in Guinea, subsequently runs along a small part of the Guinea-Mali frontier to then trace most of the Senegal-Mali border up to Bakel. The Senegal further flows through semi-arid land in the north of Senegal, forming the border with Mauritania and into the Atlantic. In Kaedi it accepts the Gorgol from Mauritania. Flowing through Bogué it reaches Richard Toll where it is joined by the Ferlo coming from inland Senegal's Lac de Guiers. It passes through Rosso and, approaching its mouth, around the Senegalese island on which the city of Saint-Louis is located, to then turn south. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a thin strip of sand called the Langue de Barbarie before it pours into the ocean itself.
  
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  Sierra Leone
  Sierra Leone (ⁱ/siːˌɛrə liːˈoʊn/), officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the northeast, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the southwest. Sierra Leone is a constitutional representative democratic republic and covers a total area of 71,740 km² (27,699 sq mi) Sierra Leone has a tropical climate, with a diverse environment ranging from savannah to rainforests. As of 2011, Sierra Leone has an estimated population of 6 million[1] (2011 United Nations estimte). Freetown is the capital, largest city as well as its economic, commercial, educational, cultural and political centre. Bo is the country's second largest city and the second major economic and commercial centre.
  Sierra Leone is divided into four geographical regions: the Northern Province, Eastern Province, Southern Province and the Western Area; which are subdivided into fourteen districts. The districts have their own directly elected local government known as district council, headed by a council chairman. The country's six municipalities of Freetown, Bo, Kenema, Makeni, Koidu Town and the coastal town of Bonthe have their own directly elected city councils headed by mayors.
  
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  Sokoto Caliphate
  The Sokoto Caliphate is an Islamic spiritual community in Nigeria, led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’adu Abubakar. Founded during the Fulani Jihad in 1809 by Usuman dan Fodio, it was one of the most powerful empires in sub-Saharan Africa prior to European conquest and colonization. The caliphate remained extant through the colonial period and afterwards, though with reduced power.
  The Fulani are traditionally a nomadic, pastoral community, herding cattle, goats and sheep, populating grasslands between the towns throughout West Africa. With increasing trade, a good number of Fulani also have settled in towns, forming a distinct minority.
  The Fulani became mostly Muslims, as were the rulers of most of the states in the region the Fulani inhabit. The Islam of the rulers of these states was quite fragile, however, and they quickly reverted to the nationalistic animist religions when threatened. Over the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the Fulani began to launch scattered uprisings against rulers who were oppressing them. These established a number of small, and usually briefly lived, emirates in the west of the Sahel.
  
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  Sudan
  Sudan (ⁱ/suːˈdæn/ or /suːˈdɑːn/;Arabic: السودان‎, as-Sūdān), officially the Republic of the Sudan (Arabic: جمهورية السودان‎, Jumhūrīyat as-Sūdān), sometimes called North Sudan, is an Arab state in North Africa (sometimes also considered to be part of the Middle East). It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, and Libya to the northwest. The population of Sudan is a combination of indigenous inhabitants of Nile Valley, and descendants of migrants from the Arabian Peninsula. Due to the process of Arabisation common throughout the rest of the Arab World, today Arab culture predominates in Sudan. The majority of the population of Sudan adheres to Islam. The Nile divides the country between east and west sides.
  The people of Sudan have a long history extending from antiquity which is intertwined with the history of Egypt. Sudan suffered seventeen years of civil war during the First Sudanese Civil War (1955–1972) followed by ethnic, religious and economic conflicts between the Muslim Arab northern Sudanese and the mostly animist and Christian Nilotes of Southern Sudan. This led to the Second Sudanese Civil War in 1983. Because of continuing political and military struggles, Sudan was seized in a bloodless coup d'état by colonel Omar al-Bashir in 1989, who thereafter proclaimed himself President of Sudan. The civil war ended with the signing of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement which granted autonomy to what was then the southern region of the country. Following a referendum held in January 2011, South Sudan seceded on 9 July 2011 with the consent of Sudan's President al-Bashir.
  
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  The Gambia
  The Republic of The Gambia, commonly referred to as The Gambia, or Gambia ⁱ/ˈɡæmbiə/, is a country in West Africa. Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, surrounded by Senegal except for a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean in the west.
  The country is situated around the Gambia River, the nation's namesake, which flows through the country's centre and empties into the Atlantic Ocean. Its area is 11,295 km² with an estimated population of 1.7 million.
  On 18 February 1965, Gambia gained independence from the United Kingdom and joined the Commonwealth of Nations. Banjul is Gambia's capital, but the largest cities are Serekunda and Brikama.
  Gambia shares historical roots with many other West African nations in the slave trade, which was the key factor in the placing and keeping of a colony on the Gambia River, first by the Portuguese and later by the British. Since gaining independence in 1965, Gambia has enjoyed relative political stability, with the exception of a brief period of military rule in 1994.
  
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  Togo
  Togo, officially the Togolese Republic ⁱ/ˈtoʊɡoʊ/, is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east, and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately 57,000 square kilometres (22,000 sq mi) with a population of approximately 6.7 million.
  Togo is a tropical, sub-Saharan nation, highly dependent on agriculture, with a climate that provides good growing seasons. The official language is French, with many other languages spoken in Togo, particularly those of the Gbe family. The largest religious group in Togo are those with indigenous beliefs, and there are significant Christian and Muslim minorities. Togo is a member of the United Nations, African Union, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone, La Francophonie and Economic Community of West African States.
  From the 11th to the 16th century, various tribes entered the region from all directions. From the 16th century to the 18th century, the coastal region was a major trading centre for Europeans in search of slaves, earning Togo and the surrounding region the name "The Slave Coast". In 1884, Germany declared Togoland a protectorate. After World War I, rule over Togo was transferred to France. Togo gained its independence from France in 1960.
  
  wn.com/Togo

• Abass Bundu
  Dr. Abass Chernor Bundu (born in Gbinti, Port Loko District, Sierra Leone) is a former politician and diplomat from Sierra Leone. Bundu was bon in the town of Gbinti, Port Loko District in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone to Fula and Temne parentage. He is a member of the prominent Temne-Fula Bundu Family originated from Port Loko District.
  Bundu's numerous positions include Assistant Director of International Affairs and Consultant in Constitutional Law in the Commonwealth Secretariat in London from 1975–82; Executive Secretary of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) from 1989–1993, the posts of Foreign Minister (1994–1995), Minister of Agriculture 1982-85; and Presidential candidate in the 1996 Presidential election in Sierra Leone. Bundu failed to garner much support in the election, gaining just under 30,000 votes or 2.9% of the national vote. He is an expert on West African affairs and a renowned expert on constitutional and international law. Bundu has written a critical analysis of the Civil War in Sierra Leone, Democracy by Force?
  
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  Abdallah Bah
  Abdallah Bah (born November 30, 1975 in Dakar) is a retired Guinean footballer. He played as a goalkeeper.
  During his professional career, Bah played, with no impact whatsoever, in France, Spain, England and the United States. Internationally, he was part of the Guinean 2004 African Cup of Nations team, who finished second in their group in the first round of competition, before losing in the quarterfinals to Mali.
  
  
  
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  Abdoul Salam Sow
  Abdoul Salam Sow (born 13 August 1970 in Conakry) is a former Guinean footballer who played for Ankaragücü, FC Martigues, Belenenses, Imortal, Qatar SC and Chunnam Dragons.
  Sow played one season with Martigues in the French Ligue 1. He also had a spell with Ankaragücü in the Turkish Super Lig.
  Sow was part of the Guinean 2004 African Nations Cup team, who finished second in their group in the first round of competition, before losing in the quarter-finals to Mali.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Abdoul_Salam_Sow
• Adame Ba Konaré
  Adame Ba Konaré (born 1 May 1947 in Segu, Mali) is a noted Malian historian and writer who is married to Alpha Oumar Konaré, former President of Mali. She is active in several causes for newborns and refugees.
  Adam Ba Konare, hailing from a Fula family, studied in Poland during the Cold War along with her husband. She earned a degree in history and was a professor until her husband's presidency. She has written various types of books, from biographies (about Sunni Ali Ber) to philosophy (L'Os de la parole) and even a novel (Quand l'ail se frotte a l'encens), the plot of which focuses on the social gap in a fictional society redolent of Mali's. For this book, her style has been compared to French authors Zola and Hugo's works.
  Although officially retired, she is often invited to world Histoiran conferences and has made herself popular for saying once on a French channel: "The hen knows the sun has risen and yet lets the rooster sing", which is many consider to be a "Feminist" Malian proverb. Adam Ba Konare is also a fierce feminist, and the founder in Bamako of one of the few "woman's museums" in Africa.
  
  wn.com/Adame_Ba_Konaré
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  Ahmadou Ahidjo
  Ahmadou Babatoura Ahidjo (24 August 1924 – 30 November 1989) was the first President of Cameroon from 1960 until 1982.
  Ahidjo was born in Garoua, a major river port along the Benue River in northern Cameroun, which was at the time a French mandate territory. His father was a Fulani village chief, while his mother was a Fulani of slave descent.
  Ahidjo's mother raised him as a Muslim and sent him to Quranic school as a child. In 1932, he began attending local government primary school. After failing his first school certification examination in 1938, Ahidjo worked for a few months in the veterinary service. He returned to school and obtained his school certification a year later. Ahidjo spent the next three years attending secondary school at the Ecole Priamaire Superieure in Yaoundé, the capital of the mandate, studying for a career in the civil service. At school, Ahidjo also played soccer and competed as a cyclist.
  In 1942, Ahidjo joined the civil service as a radio operator for a postal service. As part of his job, he worked on assignments in several major cities throughout the country, such as Douala, Ngaoundéré, Bertoua, and Mokolo. According to his official biographer, Ahidjo was the first civil servant from northern Cameroun to work in the southern areas of the territory. His experiences throughout the country were, according to Harvey Glickman, professor emeritus of political science at Haverford College and scholar of African politics, responsible for fostering his sense of national identity and provided him the sagacity to handle the problems of governing a multiethnic state.
  
  wn.com/Ahmadou_Ahidjo
• Ahmadu Bello
  Sir Ahmadu Bello (June 12, 1910 – January 15, 1966) was a Nigerian politician, and was the first premier of the Northern Nigeria region from 1954-1966. He was the Sardauna of Sokoto and one of the prominent leaders in Northern Nigeria alongside Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, both of whom were prominent in negotiations about the region's place in an independent Nigeria. As leader of the Northern People's Congress, he dominated Nigerian politics throughout the early Nigerian Federation and the First Nigerian Republic. His assassination in a coup on January 15, 1966 ultimately precipitated into the Nigerian civil war.
  He was born in Rabbah, Sokoto State. The son of a district head and heir to the Sokoto Caliphate, his great-grandfather was Sultan Bello, the founder of Sokoto and son of the revered Shaykh Usman Dan Fodio. Ahmadu Bello received his education first at the Sokoto Provincial School, the only modern school at the time in the Sokoto province. Then, he proceeded to the Katsina Teacher's Training College. After spending five years at Katsina, he was appointed by the Sultan to become a teacher at the Sokoto Middle School, his former school which had undergone rapid transformation. In 1934, he was made the district head of Rabbah, four years later, he was promoted and sent to Gusau to become a divisional head. In 1938, he made an unsuccessful bid to become the new Sultan of Sokoto. The successful sultan immediately conferred upon Sir Ahmadu Bello the traditional, now honorary, title of Sarduna, alternatively spelled Sardauna, and elevated him to the Sokoto Native Authority Council. In 1948, he was offered a scholarship to study local government administration in England. Ahmadu Bello took the scholarship sensing he needed to shore up his knowledge about the process of governance.
  
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  Aliko Dangote
  Alhaji Aliko Dangote, MFR, GCON (born 10 April 1957, Kano, Nigeria) is a Nigerian self-made business magnate, with an estimated net worth of $11.2 billion USD as of March 2012. Based in Nigeria, he is the owner of the Dangote Group, which has interests in commodities with operations in his homeland and several other countries in Africa, including Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, South Africa and Zambia.
  Dangote is ranked by Forbes Magazine as the 76th richest person in the world.
  The Dangote Group, originally a small trading firm founded in 1977, is now a multi-trillion naira conglomerate with operations in Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo. Dangote's businesses include food processing, cement manufacturing, and freight. The Dangote Group dominates the sugar market in Nigeria: it is the major sugar supplier to the country's soft drink companies, breweries, and confectioners. Dangote Group has moved from being a trading company to Nigeria's largest industrial group, including Dangote Sugar Refinery (the most capitalized company on the Nigeria Stock Exchange, valued at over US$3 billion with Aliko Dangote's equity topping US$2 billion), Africa's largest Cement Production Plant: Obajana Cement, Dangote Flour amongst others.
  
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  Alimamy Jalloh
  Alimamy Jalloh (born September 26, 1987 in Koidu Town, Sierra Leone) is a Sierra Leonean professional footballer, who currently plays for Lohjan Pallo in Finland.
  He started his football career with his hometown club the Diamond Stars of Kono District in the Sierra Leone National Premier League in 2003. Jalloh joined 2007 from FC Kallon to Finnish club Atlantis FC. After one year with Atlantis FC signed in December 2007 to SoVo and in July 2008 to HIFK. The midfielder signed in January 2010 after two years with HIFK for Lohjan Pallo.
  Jalloh has played for Sierra Leone U-20 team.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Alimamy_Jalloh
• Alimamy Rassin
  Alimamy Rassin (1825-1890) was a Fula chief from Sierra Leone who devoted his life to making peace among his people and fellow rulers.
  Alimamy Rassin was born in 1825 in Mafonda, now Sanda Magbolonto Chiefdom, in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone to a Fula father from Senegal and a Temne mother. When his father returned to Senegal, Rassin was adopted by Alimamy Amadu, a Fula chief of Mafonda Chiefdom, and given the best Muslim education available in his days. Rassin was an amazingly gifted student, and his intellectual achievements made him famous throughout northern Sierra Leone while still a young boy. When his Fula family came from Senegal to claim him, Chief Amadu, who now regarded Rassin as his son, refused to give him up.
  When Alimamy Amadu died in 1845, the people of Mafonda chose Rassin as their chief. But Rassin was a modest man and refused to be crowned officially for several years.
  From the outset of his rule, Alimamy Rassin made clear his hatred of war and all forms of violence. He set up a fund for the promotion of peace to be replenished from fines levied in the chief's court. He mediated successfully in political disputes in the Sanda Tendaren, Tonko, and Yoni chiefdom; occasionally sending his sons on official peace missions. When the Mandinka army of Samori Toure reached Mafonda in 1885, and occupy many areas of northern Sierra Leone. The invaders were so impressed by Rassin's wise rule that they chose to withdraw and leave Mafonda in peace. The British administration in Freetown was equally impressed with Alimamy Rassin's rule and offered him a large annual stipend to continue with his efforts to establish peace among the interior rulers. But Rassin rejected the offer, arguing that it was unethical to accept payment for the promotion of peace. He ruled wisely for the benefit of his people and not for political favours from the British. Alimamy Rassin died in 1890, six years before the chiefs lost their independence to British rule.
  
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  Almamy Schuman Bah
  Almamy Schuman Bah (born August 24, 1974) is a Guinean football player.
  He was part of the Guinean 2004 African Nations Cup team, who finished second in their group in the first round of competition, before losing in the quarter finals to Mali. In 2004, he went from FC Metz to Turkish Super League team Malatyaspor. However, because of injuries, he could play only 15 matches for the Turkish side and his contract was cancelled at the end of season and he moved to Clermont Foot.
  Other teams he has played for are Le Mans UC72, Berrichonne de Châteauroux and Neuchâtel Xamax.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Almamy_Schuman_Bah
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  Alpha Oumar Konaré
  Alpha Oumar Konaré (born 2 February 1946) was the President of Mali for two five-year terms (1992 to 2002), and was Chairperson of the African Union Commission from 2003 to 2008.
  Alpha Oumar Konaré fourth son of a Bambara teacher and a Fula homemaker was born in Kayes, Mali, where he went to primary school. He went on to attend Bamako's Lycée Terrasson des Fougères, the Collège de Maristes of Dakar, Senegal, the Collège Moderne of Kayes and, between 1962 and 1964, the École Normale Secondaire of Katibougou. He completed his advanced studies in history at the École Normale Supérieure in Bamako (1965–1969) and at the University of Warsaw between 1971 and 1975.
  He began his professional career as a tutor in Kayes, then a lycée teacher at Markala and Bamako. In 1974, he did research at the Institut des Sciences Humaines du Mali, then, from 1975 to 1978, acted as head of historic patrimony and ethnography at the Ministry of Youth, Sports, Arts, and Culture. In 1980, he was named researcher at the Institut Supérieur de Formation en Recherche Appliquée (I.S.F.R.A), and Professor at the History/Geography department at the École Normale Supérieure of Bamako. In the course of his career, he headed several professional organizations, including the Association of Historians and Geographers of Mali, the West African Association of Archaeologists, and the Union of West African Researchers. Between 1981 and 1992, Konaré served as a consultant for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Between 1989 and 1992 he was president of ICOM (International Council of Museums; http://icom.museum/founders.html#presidents ).
  
  wn.com/Alpha_Oumar_Konaré
• Alpha Yaya Diallo
  Alpha Yaya Diallo is a self-taught guitarist, singer, and songwriter, who lives in Vancouver.
  Diallo was born in Guinea-Conakry and when young moved about the country following the job moves of his father, a surgeon. A portion of his mother's family lived in Senegal, which gave him a rich musical education. In Africa he taught himself to play the guitar, and worked with several Guinean groups such as The Sons of Ra'is and Syli Authentique. He moved to Europe in the mid-1980s, where he worked particularly with the Fatala group associated with Peter Gabriel's music label. Diallo moved to Vancouver in 1991. He released his solo first album, Nene, which was nominated for a Juno award, as was his 1996 album Futur. He won his first Juno, for The Message in 1999 in the "Best World Music Album" category. He received further Junos in 2002 (for The Journey) and in 2004 with the African Guitar Summit compilation. He released Djama in 2005. Diallo is from Guinea and incorporates its rich musical tradition into his original compositions. He won the Best World Artist-Solo at the inaugural Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2006. He produced film documentary, called Best of Both Worlds which was filmed in West African, Canada and France. He plays with Ghanaian guitarist Pa JoeDiallo, Adam Solomo and Mighty Popo in African Guitar Summit.
  
  wn.com/Alpha_Yaya_Diallo
• Amadou Hampâté Bâ
  Amadou Hampâté Bâ (January or February 1901 in Bandiagara, Mali – May 15, 1991 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire) was a Malian writer and ethnologist.
  Amadou Hampâté Bâ was born to an aristocratic Fula family in Bandiagara, the largest city in Dogon territory and the capital of the precolonial Masina Empire. After his father's death, he was adopted by his mother's second husband, Tidjani Amadou Ali Thiam of the Toucouleur ethnic group. He first attended the Qur'anic school run by Tierno Bokar, a dignitary of the Tijaniyyah brotherhood, then transferred to a French school at Bandiagara, then to one at Djenné. In 1915, he ran away from school and rejoined his mother at Kati, where he resumed his studies.
  In 1921, he turned down entry into the école normale in Gorée. As a punishment, the governor appointed him to Ouagadougou with the role he later described as that of "an essentially precarious and revocable temporary writer". From 1922 to 1932, he filled several posts in the colonial administration in Upper Volta, now Burkina Faso and from 1932 to 1942 in Bamako. In 1933, he took a six month leave to visit Tierno Bokar, his spiritual leader.(see also:Sufi studies)
  
  wn.com/Amadou_Hampâté_Bâ
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  Amadou Toumani Touré
  Amadou Toumani Touré (born 4 November 1948) is a Malian politician who was President of Mali from 2002 to 2012. He overthrew President Moussa Traoré in a March 1991 military coup and presided over a year-long transition to multiparty elections; he handed power to civilian authorities in June 1992. Ten years later, after retiring from the army, he entered politics as a civilian and won the 2002 presidential election with a broad coalition of support. He was easily re-elected in 2007 to a second and final term. On 22 March 2012, one month prior to his scheduled departure from office, disgruntled members of the Malian military initiated a coup d'état that forced him into hiding. As part of the agreement to restore constitutional order to Mali, Touré resigned from the presidency on 8 April.
  Amadou Toumani Touré was born on 4 November 1948, in Mopti, where he attended primary school. Between 1966 and 1969, he attended Badalabougou Standard Secondary School in Bamako in order to become a teacher. Eventually, he joined the army and attended the Kati Inter-Military College. As a member of the Parachute Corps, he rose quickly through the ranks and after numerous training courses in the Soviet Union and France, he became the commander of the parachute commandos in 1984.
  
  wn.com/Amadou_Toumani_Touré
• Amadu Jalloh
  Alhaji Amadu Jalloh is a politician in Sierra Leone. He contested the 1996 presidential election as a member of the National Democratic Alliance, where he finished in 8th place with 2.3% of the first round voting. He ran again as the NDA candidate in the August 2007 presidential election, receiving 0.96% of the vote and fifth place.
  On August 27, 2007, Jalloh announced his party's support for second place candidate Solomon Berewa of the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) in the second round of the election. He denounced claims that he had allied with the opposition All People's Congress (APC) based on a photograph of himself with APC leader Ernest Bai Koroma and People's Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC) leader Charles Margai, which he said was taken after a consultative meeting between the parties.
  
  
  
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• Amadu Wurie
  Amadu Wurie (1898 – 13 June 1977) was an early Sierra Leonean educationist and politician.
  Wurie was born in Gbinti, Port Loko District, in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone, the son of a Fula paramount chief. He was educated at the Bo School in Bo, beginning in 1906.
  In 1916, he was in the first class of Sierra Leoneans that passed the British civil service exam and was appointed the assistant headmaster of the Bo school that year. By 1935, Wurie rose to the position of Senior assistant headmaster which allowed him to be the first African to serve even temporarily as the Headmaster. From 1935 to 1955, Wurie served in various locations across the colony primarily as headmaster.
  Upon national independence in 1961, Wurie was elected as a MP under the banner of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) as well as Minister of Education, a position he kept until he lost his seat in 1967. He then retired to Mahera in the Port Loko District and later made a Hajj to Mecca. In 1973, Wurie was honoured with a degree from University of Sierra Leone. Wurie died in June 1977 at the age of 79.
  
  wn.com/Amadu_Wurie
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  Atiku Abubakar
  Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, alias Turakin Adamawa, GCON (born 25 November 1946) was the Vice-President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007. He is a Muslim native of Adamawa State, and was an influential member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) until 2006 when he switched affiliation to the Action Congress party. The former Vice President made a controversial return to the PDP in 2009.
  Abubakar came up the ranks of the ruling PDP primarily, due to the pivotal role he played in its formation. He was also an ardent opponent of General Sani Abacha, the late dictator. Atiku's source of wealth has caused some curiosity among Nigerians but that also goes for many other wealthy Nigerians. He has said in a new biography yet to be published that he made his money, "through wise investments, hard work and sheer luck of being at the right place at the right time".
  Atiku attended Jada Primary School, 1954–1960, Adamawa Provinsional School, Yola, 1961 to 1965, with Advance Level studies in Economics, British Economic History, Government and Hausa Language, School of hygiene Kano, 1966–1967, graduating with Royal Society of Health Diploma, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, 1967, graduating with Diploma in Law, in 1969
  
  wn.com/Atiku_Abubakar
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  Baaba Maal
  Baaba Maal (born 12 November 1953) is a Senegalese singer and guitarist born in Podor, on the Senegal River. In addition to acoustic guitar, he also plays percussion. He has released several albums, both for independent and major labels. In July 2003, he was made a UNDP Youth Emissary.
  Baaba Maal was expected to follow his father and become a fisherman. However, under the influence of his lifelong friend Mansour Seck, Baaba devoted himself to learning music from his mother and his school's headmaster. He went on to study music at the university in Dakar before leaving for postgraduate studies on a scholarship at Beaux-Arts in Paris. He is well known in Africa and internationally is probably Senegal's most famous musician after Youssou N'Dour.
  Baaba sings primarily in Pulaar and is the foremost promoter of the traditions of the Pulaar-speaking peoples who live on either side of the Senegal River in the ancient Senegalese kingdom of Futa Tooro.
  In 1998, Baaba recorded "Bess, You Is My Woman Now" for the Red Hot Organization’s compilation album Red Hot + Rhapsody a tribute to George Gershwin which raised money for various charities devoted to increasing AIDS awareness and fighting the disease. In 2002, Baaba again worked with the Red Hot Organization and appeared on a track titled "No Agreement" alongside Res, Tony Allen, Ray Lema, Positive Black Soul and Archie Shepp for the tribute album to Fela Kuti, Red Hot + Riot.
  
  wn.com/Baaba_Maal
• Bello Bouba Maigari
  Bello Bouba Maigari (born 1947) is a Cameroonian politician. He was Prime Minister of Cameroon from 6 November 1982 to 22 August 1983 and has been the National President of the National Union for Democracy and Progress (UNDP) since January 1992. Although he was a key opposition leader for much of the 1990s, he has participated in the government since December 1997; he was Minister of State for Industrial and Commercial Development from 1997 to 2004, Minister of State for Post and Telecommunications from 2004 to 2009, and Minister of State for Transport from 2009 to 2009. Since December 2011, he has been Minister of State for Tourism and Leisure.
  Bello Bouba was born in Baschéo, in Benoué Department in the North Province of Cameroon. From 1972 to 1975, Bello Bouba was Secretary-General of the Ministry of the Armed Forces. He was appointed as Deputy Secretary-General of the Presidency on June 30, 1975, serving in that position until January 1982 (with the rank of Minister from November 11, 1980). In the government named on January 7, 1982, he became Minister of State for the Economy and the Plan; later, when President Ahmadou Ahidjo resigned in November 1982, Bello Bouba was named Prime Minister under the new President, Paul Biya. Biya was said to have appointed Bello Bouba at the behest of Ahidjo; many thought that Ahidjo intended for Bello Bouba — a Muslim from the north, like himself, and unlike Biya — to be his ultimate successor and that Biya was intended to serve as essentially a caretaker president in the meantime. Ahidjo and Biya soon came into conflict with one another, however. Ahidjo went into exile, and on August 22, 1983, Biya publicly accused Ahidjo of plotting a coup; on the same occasion, he announced his dismissal of Bello Bouba as Prime Minister, replacing him with Luc Ayang.
  
  wn.com/Bello_Bouba_Maigari
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  Cellou Dalein Diallo
  Cellou Dalein Diallo (born February 3, 1952) is a Guinean economist and politician who was Prime Minister of Guinea from 2004 to 2006. Currently he is President of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG), an opposition party.
  Diallo, a member of the Fula ethnic group, was born in Labé. He studied at the University of Conakry and the Center for Financial, Economic and Banking Studies in Paris, and in 1976 he became an inspector of trade. He began working at the Bank of Foreign Trade of Guinea in 1982, and from 1985 to 1995 he worked at the Central Bank of the Republic of Guinea.
  After briefly working at the Administration and Control of Great Projects (l’Administration et Contrôle des Grands Projets, ACGP), Diallo joined the government in July 1996 as Minister of Transport, Telecommunications and Tourism. He was subsequently moved to the position of Minister of Infrastructure in October 1997, where he remained until he was appointed as Minister of Public Works and Transport on March 12, 1999. After UTA Flight 141, a flight from Guinea, crashed in Cotonou, Benin in December 2003, Diallo said that there was no proof that his ministry had been neglectful of safety and that he would not resign. Diallo served for five years as Minister of Public Works and Transport before being moved to the position of Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture on February 23, 2004.
  
  wn.com/Cellou_Dalein_Diallo
• Daouda Sow
  Daouda Sow (born January 19, 1983 in Roubaix) is an amateur boxer from France. He competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the lightweight division.
  At the first Olympic qualifier the southpaw lost to Ukrainian Oleksandr Klyuchko but qualified at the second tournament. At Beijing he surprisingly medaled by beating Olympic silver medalist Kim Song-Guk, José Pedraza, local Hu Qing and 2005 world champ Yordenis Ugas and made it to the final. There he was edged out by Russian 2004 Olympic Champion Aleksei Tishchenko 9:11.
  2008 (as a lightweight)
  2007 (as a lightweight)
  
  
  
  wn.com/Daouda_Sow
• Diallo Telli
  Boubacar Diallo Telli (1925–1977) was a Guinean diplomat and politician. He helped found the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and was the first secretary-general of the OAU between 1964 and 1972. After serving as Minister of Justice in Guinea for four years he was executed by starvation by the regime of Ahmed Sékou Touré at Camp Boiro in 1977.
  Diallo Telli was born in 1925 in Porédaka, Guinea. He was of Fulani origin. He studied for his baccalauréat at Dakar, and then went to the École Nationale de la France d'Outre-Mer, in Paris, France. In 1951 he received his Licence en Droit, and in 1954 his Doctorate in Law. That year he was appointed Deputy of the Procureur (District Attorney) of the Republic at the Court of Thiès in Senegal. He was then appointed to the court in Cotonou, Benin (then Dahomey). In 1955, he became head of the Office of High Commissioner of French West Africa (AOF) in Dakar, which was the highest position held by an African in the French colonial period. He became Secretary General of the AOF in April 1957 and remained in that post for eighteen months.
  
  wn.com/Diallo_Telli
• Fatimah Tuggar
  Fatimah Tuggar (born 1967) is a Nigerian visual artist.
  Born in Nigeria and now based in Memphis, Fatimah Tuggar completed her MFA at Yale University in 1996. Since she has shown her work in major group exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), the New Museum of Contemporary Art, and international biennial exhibitions such as the Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art (2005), Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels (2003), Centre Georges Pompidou (2005), Paris and the Bamako Biennal, Mali, 2003. She has received numerous grants from distinguished institutions such as The Rema Mann Hort Foundation of New York, the Civitella Ranieri Fellowship, and The Wheeler Foundation, Brooklyn. Tuggar's body of work includes objects, images, video and interactive media installations. Collage and assemblage seem to figure into all of her creations with a focus often on Western and some West African Cultures. The objects usually involve some kind of bricolage; combining two or more objects from Western Africa and their Western equivalent to talk about electricity, infrastructure, access and the reciprocal influences between technology and cultures. Similarly, her computer montages and video collage works bring together both video and photographs she shoots herself and found materials from commercials, magazines and archival footage. Meaning for Tuggar seems lie in these juxtapositions which explore how media affects our daily lives. Overall Tuggar’s work using strategies of deconstruction to challenge our perceptions and attachments to accustomed ways of looking. The body of work conflates ideas about race, gender and class; disturbing our notions of subjectivity.
  
  wn.com/Fatimah_Tuggar
• 
  Fula people
  Fula people or Fulani or Fulbe (Fula: Fulɓe; French: Peul; Hausa: Fulan; Portuguese: Fula; Wolof: Pël; Bambara: Fulaw) are an ethnic group spread over many countries, predominantly in West Africa, but found also in Central Africa and Sudanese North Africa. African countries where they are present include Mauritania, Ghana, Senegal, Guinea, The Gambia, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Niger, Chad, Togo, the Central African Republic, Liberia, and as far as Sudan and Egypt in the East. Fula people form a minority in every country they inhabit, but in Guinea they represent a plurality of the population (40%).
  There are also many names (and spellings of the names) used in other languages to refer to the Fulɓe. Fulani in English is borrowed from the Hausa term, and it is also used by the Manding peoples, being the diminutive form of the word "Fula" in their language, essentially meaning "little Fula". Fula, from Manding languages, is also used in English, and sometimes spelled Fulah or Foulah. Fula and Fulani are commonly used in English, including within Africa. The French borrowed the Wolof term Pël, which is variously spelled: Peul, Peulh, and even Peuhl. More recently the Fulfulde / Pulaar term Fulɓe, which is a plural noun (singular, Pullo) has been Anglicised as Fulbe, which some people use. In Portuguese, the terms Fula or Futafula are used.
  
  wn.com/Fula_people
• Garga Haman Adji
  Garga Haman Adji (born 27 January 1944) is a Cameroonian politician. He served in the government of Cameroon as Minister of the Civil Service from 1990 to 1992 and is currently the President of the Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD), a minor political party. He is also a municipal councillor in the First Arrondissement of Maroua.
  A Muslim and a member of the Fula ethnic group, Garga was born in Maroua. He began working in the state administration when he was a teenager, becoming an auxiliary administrative assistant in Yagoua Prefecture on 26 November 1961 and then head of the secretariat of the sub-prefect of Kar-Haye in July 1962; the latter post enabled him to gain experience in preparing a budget. He also joined the ruling party in 1962, and he studied at Cameroon's National School of Administration and Magistracy, at the International Institute of Administration in Paris, and at the Federal University of Yaounde during the 1960s.
  Early in his career, Garga held a succession of high-level administrative posts in Cameroon, working as Sub-Director of National Security, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Finance, Secretary-General of the Ministry of the Civil Service, and Finance Director of the National Electricity Company of Cameroon. He then served as State Inspector and Deputy Director of Inspection and Administrative Reform.
  
  wn.com/Garga_Haman_Adji
• Habib Thiam
  Habib Thiam (born 21 January 1933 in Dakar) is a Senegalese politician. He served as Prime Minister of the country on two occasions, from 1 January 1981 to 3 April 1983, and again from 8 April 1991 until 3 July 1998.
  He also served as president of the Senegalese National Assembly from 1983 to 1984.
  He is married to Anne Majken née Hessner, a native of Denmark and former member of the Danish parliament for the Social Democratic Party. They have two daughters.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Habib_Thiam
• Halifa Sallah
  Halifa Sallah is a Gambian politician. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly of The Gambia and a member of the Pan-African Parliament. He represented the constituency Serrekunda Central until the 25 January 2007 National Assembly election, in which he lost to Sainey Jaiteh of the ruling APRC.
  Sallah is the leader of the People's Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) and one of the main figures in the opposition coalition National Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD). He also publishes Foroyaa, an independent newspaper.
  In June 2005 Sallah was, along with the other three opposition MPs, expelled from the National Assembly on the grounds of dual party membership. NADD had been registered as a political party and the Supreme Court of The Gambia judged that it went against the Gambian Constitution to belong to two parties at the same time. Critics claimed that the move was nothing but an attempt to silence the parliamentary opposition, as there was nothing in the Constitution regulating political alliances. On 29 September a by-election was held, in which Sallah was reelected with a huge margin.
  
  wn.com/Halifa_Sallah
• Hamat Bah
  Hamat Bah is a Gambian politician and leader of the National Reconciliation Party (NRP). Running as his party's presidential candidate in 2001, he placed third, winning 7.8% of the vote. He was previously a hotel worker before joining politics.
  In January 2005, Bah's NRP joined four other opposition parties to form the National Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD).
  Soon after NADD was registered as a political party, the country's Supreme Court revoked Bah's National Assembly seat, which he won in 2002, for belonging to two parties at the same time. In a by-election held in June 2005, he lost his seat to a member of the ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) party.
  Bah was defeated in the January 2007 parliamentary election. While not mentioning Bah by name, it was thought that President Yahya Jammeh was referring to Bah and Halifa Sallah when he expressed satisfaction at the defeat of "the two empty barrels in the National Assembly".
  
  
  
  wn.com/Hamat_Bah
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  Hausa people
  The Hausa are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. They are a Sahelian people chiefly located in northern Nigeria or southeastern Niger, but having significant numbers living in regions of Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Chad or Sudan. Predominantly Hausa communities are scattered throughout West Africa and on the traditional Hajj route across the Sahara Desert, especially around the town of Agadez. A few Hausa have moved to large coastal cities in the region such as Lagos, Accra, Kumasi and Cotonou, as well as to countries such as Libya. However, most Hausa remain in small villages or towns, where they grow crops or raise livestock, including cattle. They speak the Hausa language, an Afro-Asiatic language of the Chadic group.
  Kano, north Nigeria is considered the center of Ausahay trade or culture. In terms of cultural relations to other peoples of West Africa, the Hausa are culturally or historically close to the Fulani, Zarma, Kanuri and Gwari groups inhabiting the expansive Sahel region. Many Hausa have intermixed with other groups such as the Yoruba, Dagomba or Shuwa. Islamic Shari’a law is loosely the law of the land or is understood by any full time practitioner of Islam, known in Hausa as a Ma'allam (see Maulana).
  
  wn.com/Hausa_people
• Ibrahim Ba
  Ibrahim "Ibou" Ba (born 12 November 1973) is a Senegalese-born professional French football player of the 1990s and 2000s whose career as a right midfielder lasted from 1991 to 2008. In the late 1990s, particularly between 1996 and 1998, he was considered to be one of the hottest young talents in the world after consistently impressing with FC Girondins de Bordeaux.
  Born in Senegal's capital, Dakar, Ibrahim Ngom Ba was not yet eighteen when, in 1991, he started playing for the French club Le Havre AC, where he spent five years. In 1996 he moved to fellow Ligue 1 outfit Bordeaux, reaching the final of Coupe de la Ligue and making his France national football team debut on 22 January 1997 against Portugal, as well as scoring one goal in the 2–0 victory.
  After the 1997–1998 football season he was sold to Italian club Milan after just one season at Bordeaux. His first season in Milan was to become his best; he played 31 matches and scored one goal. His most memorable moment for the French national team came in the June 1997 friendly match with Brazil in Paris. He took a free kick 35 yards from goal, and his swerving shot forced Brazilian goalkeeper Claudio Taffarel to drop the ball in front of French striker Marc Keller, who went on to score.
  
  wn.com/Ibrahim_Ba
• Ibrahim Gambari
  Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, CFR (born on November 24, 1944 in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria) is a Nigerian scholar and diplomat. He was Minister for External Affairs between 1984 and 1985. Gambari has been appointed by the Secretary-General of United Nations Ban Ki-moon and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission as Joint African Union-United Nations Special Representative for Darfur effective from 1 January 2010. He is currently the Special Adviser on the International Compact with Iraq and Other Issues for the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he served as the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations (USG) for the Department of Political Affairs (DPA). He was appointed on June 10, 2005 and assumed the post on July 1 of that year.
  Gambari attended King's College, Lagos.
  Gambari began his teaching career in 1969 at City University of New York before working at University of Albany. Later, he taught at Ahmadu Bello University, in Zaria, Kaduna State, the second largest university in Africa. From 1986-1989, he was Visiting Professor at three universities in Washington, D.C.: Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Georgetown University and Howard University. He has also been a Research Fellow at the Brookings Institution also in Washington D.C. and a Resident Scholar at the Bellagio Study and Conference Center, the Rockefeller Foundation-run center in Italy. He was accorded, honoris causa, the title of Doctor of Humane Letters (D.Hum.Litt.) from the University of Bridgeport. He is a member of the Johns Hopkins University's Society of Scholars. He was decorated with the title of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) by the Government of Nigeria.
  
  wn.com/Ibrahim_Gambari
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  Ibrahima Diallo
  Ibrahima Diallo (born 16 September 1985 in Conakry) is a football defender from Guinea who currently plays for Waasland-Beveren in Belgium. He also plays for the Guinea national football team as left back. He is described as "the classic example of a modern defender" who is renowned for his "pace, athleticism, and determination". He is also "strong in the air" despite his noticeably small frame.
  Raised in France, Diallo began his football career playing for a couple of clubs in the Île-de-France, such as CSF Bretigny highly recognized and primarily known for being the club where Patrice Evra, Ricardo Faty, Jacques Faty, Steve Gohouri, Jeremy Menez, Mehdi Benatia, Jimmy Briand, and other international players began their careers.
  
  wn.com/Ibrahima_Diallo
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  Issa Ba
  Issa Ba (born 7 October 1981 in Dakar, Senegal) is a Senegalese footballer who currently plays for the Romanian Liga I team Dinamo Bucureşti.
  He played before for AJ Auxerre and Wisła Kraków.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Issa_Ba
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  Issa Hayatou
  Issa Hayatou (born 9 August 1946) is a Cameroonian former athlete and sports executive. He has been the president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) since in 1987. In 2002, he ran for president of FIFA but was defeated by current president Sepp Blatter. He is also a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
  In November 2010 he was alleged by the BBC to have taken bribes in the 1990s regarding the awarding of World Cup television rights. The IOC has announced it will investigate him.
  Hayatou is the fifth president of the Confederation of African Football. He was born in Garoua, Cameroon, the son of a local Sultan, and became a middle distance runner and physical education teacher. Hayatou had a successful career as an athlete, becoming a member of the Cameroonian national squads in both Basketball and Athletics, and holding national record times in the 400 and 800 meter running.
  He is married with four children. The Hayatou family are traditional holders of the sultanate (Lamidat, from the Sokoto Caliphate's traditional Fula title Lamine) of Garoua. Hayatou was son of the reigning sultan, and many relatives have acceded to powerful positions in Cameroonian society. Most notable is Issa's brother Sadou Hayatou, a former Prime Minister of Cameroon and longtime high official under Cameroon president Paul Biya, who is among those tapped to succeed him in the future. The Hayatou family continue to wield much political influence in northern Cameroon.
  
  wn.com/Issa_Hayatou
• 
  Kanuri people
  The Kanuri people (Kanouri, Kanowri, also Yerwa and several subgroup names) are an African ethnic group living largely in the lands of the former Bornu Empire: Bornu state in northeastern Nigeria, southeast Niger, western Chad and northern Cameroon. Those generally termed Kanuri include several subgroups and dialect groups, some of whom feel themselves distinct from the Kanuri. Most trace their origins to ruling lineages of the medieval Kanem-Bornu, its client states or provinces. In contrast to neighboring Toubou or Zaghawa pastoralists, Kanuri groups have traditionally been sedentary, engaging in farming, fishing the Lake Chad basin, and engaged in trade and salt processing.
  Kanuri peoples include several subgroups, and identify by different names in some regions. The Kanuri language, which derived from Kanembu, was the major language of the Borno Empire Kanuri remains a major language in southeastern Niger, northeastern Nigeria and northern Cameroon but in Chad it is limited to handfuls of speakers in urban centers.
  
  wn.com/Kanuri_people
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  Macky Sall
  Macky Sall (born 11 December 1961) is a Senegalese politician who has been President of Senegal since April 2012. Under President Abdoulaye Wade, Sall was Prime Minister of Senegal from April 2004 to June 2007 and President of the National Assembly of Senegal from June 2007 to November 2008. He was the Mayor of Fatick from 2002 to 2008 and has held that post again since April 2009.
  Sall was a long-time member of the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS). After coming into conflict with Wade, he was removed from his post as President of the National Assembly in November 2008; he consequently founded his own party and joined the opposition. Placing second in the first round of the 2012 presidential election, he won the backing of other opposition candidates and prevailed over Wade in the second round of voting, held on 25 March 2012.
  Sall, a geological engineer by profession, was born in Fatick. He became Secretary-General of the PDS Regional Convention in Fatick in 1998 and served as the PDS National Secretary in charge of Mines and Industry. He was Special Advisor for Energy and Mines to President Abdoulaye Wade from 6 April 2000 to 12 May 2003, as well as Director-General of the Petroleum Company of Senegal (Société des Pétroles du Sénégal, PETROSEN) from 13 December 2000 to 5 July 2001. He became Minister of Mines, Energy and Hydraulics on 12 May 2001, and he was promoted to the rank of Minister of State, while retaining his portfolio, on 6 November 2002. He additionally became the Mayor of Fatick on 1 June 2002.
  
  wn.com/Macky_Sall
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  Mahmadu Alphajor Bah
  Mahmadu Alphajor Bah (born January 1, 1981 in Freetown, Sierra Leone) is a Sierra Leonean footballer of Guinean descent, who plays as an attacking midfielder or Striker for Al-Qadisiya in Saudi Arabia. His previous clubs include Halmstads BK in Sweden, KSC Lokeren in Belgium, Chunnam Dragons in South Korea, Xiamen Lanshi and Zhejiang Lücheng in China. In April 2012 he signed contract with Malaysia club Perlis FA.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Mahmadu_Alphajor_Bah
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  Malick Sy
  El-Hadji Malick Sy (Wolof: Allaaji Maalig Si, 1855-1922) was a Senegalese religious leader and teacher in the Tijaniyya Sufi brotherhood.
  Born in Gaya (in northern Senegal) to a Fulani family, El-Hadji Malick Sy traveled to Mauritania, then to Saint-Louis, Senegal in 1884 as a religious student. He traveled to Mecca, then returned to teach at Louga and Pire before etablishing a zāwiya (religious center) at Tivaouane in 1902 at the invitation of local leader Djibril Guèye, which became a center for Islamic education and culture under his leadership. In Senegal's Wolof country, especially the northern regions of Kajoor and Jolof, the Tijānī Order was spread primarily by El-Hajj Malick Sy.
  After his death on 27 June 1922, Malick Sy was succeeded by his son Seydi Ababacar Sy as the khalife général des Tidjanes from 1922 to 1957. The family line has continued to hold the title, with El-Hadji Abdou Aziz Sy from 1957 - 1997, to the current khalife, Serigne Mansour Sy "Borom daaraji". The Gàmmu (Mawlid in Arabic, the celebration of the birth of Muḥammad) of Tivaouane gathers many followers each year.
  
  wn.com/Malick_Sy
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  Mamadou Niang
  Mamadou Niang (born 13 October 1979 in Matam) is a Senegalese footballer who plays as a striker for Qatar club Al Sadd in the Qatar National First Division. He has represented Senegal at international level, participating in the 2004, 2006, and 2008 African Cup of Nations. He wears the number 7 jersey. He is the older brother of Papa Niang, who currently plays at FF Jaro in Finnish Veikkausliiga.
  After beginning his career with the Le Havre youth team, Niang turned professional at 18 years of age with Troyes. He had a mixed beginning to his career with his first season featuring ten Ligue 1 starts, all from the bench, the following season would show little improvement with 17 starts and only 3 league goals.
  A loan period with second division Metz allowed him to hone his skills, contributing 5 goals in 12 appearances and helping Metz return to top flight French football for the 2003–04 season.
  Jean Fernandez, the Metz manager, tried to make the loan deal into a permanent move but failed and Niang left Troyes for Strasbourg. The arrival of Danijel Ljuboja, to Strasbourg at the same time allowed Niang to form an important strike partnership until Ljuboja moved to Paris Saint-Germain. Niang didn't score again for the remainder of the second half of that season.
  
  wn.com/Mamadou_Niang
• Mariama Bâ
  Mariama Bâ (1929–1981) was a Senegalese author and feminist, who wrote in French. Born in Dakar, she was raised a Muslim, but at an early age came to criticise what she perceived as inequalities between the sexes resulting from [African] traditions. Raised by her traditional grandparents, she had to struggle even to gain an education, because they did not believe that girls should be taught. Bâ later married a Senegalese member of Parliament, Obèye Diop, but divorced him and was left to care for their nine children.
  Her frustration with the fate of African women—as well as her ultimate acceptance of it—is expressed in her first novel, So Long a Letter. In it she depicts the sorrow and resignation of a woman who must share the mourning for her late husband with his second, younger wife. Abiola Irele called it "the most deeply felt presentation of the female condition in African fiction". This short book was awarded the first Noma Prize for Publishing in Africa in 1980.
  Bâ died a year later after a protracted illness, before her second novel, Scarlet Song, which describes the hardships a woman faces when her husband abandons her for a younger woman he knew at youth, was published.
  
  wn.com/Mariama_Bâ
• Minkailu Bah
  Minkailu Bah (born in Magburaka, Tonkolili District) is a Sierra Leonean politician and Lecturer and currently serves as Sierra Leone's Minister of Education, Youth and Sports. He was Acting head of Electrical and Electronics department Fourah Bay College University of Sierra Leone before his latest appointment as a minister
  
  
  
  wn.com/Minkailu_Bah
• Modibo Adama
  Adama bi Ardo Hassana (c. 1786 – c. 1847), more commonly known as Modibo Adama, was a Fulani scholar and holy warrior. He led a jihad into the region of Fumbina (in modern day Cameroon and Nigeria), opening the region for Fulani colonisation. As a result of Adama's constant warring, the Fulani today make up the largest ethnic group in Northern Cameroon, and Islam is the dominant religion. The wars also forced many peoples south into the forest region.
  Adama studied in Hausaland and earned the title "Modibo" ("Lettered One") for his scholarship. Upon finishing his studies, he returned home to Gurina and learned of the jihad declared by Fulani mystic Usman dan Fodio. When he accompanied a delegation to visit Usman, the leader ordered Adama to extend his jihad east as "Lamido Fumbina" (Ruler of the Southlands).
  Adama raised an army and attacked Bata settlements near Gurin. He took the villages, and many more traditional Fulbe leaders and new soldiers came to his side. He next took on Mandara, the largest and best organised state in the region. He swept over several smaller settlements and eventually conquered the Mandara capital, Dulo, with ease. While his men celebrated, however, the Mandara army counterattacked and recaptured the town.
  
  wn.com/Modibo_Adama
• Mohammed Shata
  Dr. Mohammed Shata PhD is a Nigerian politician who served in the Cabinet of President Olusegun Obasanjo between 1999 and 2003.
  In July 1999 the Senate cleared the appointment by President Olusegun Obasanjo of Shata as Minister of National Planning.
  As Minister of State for Internal Affairs, in September 2000 Shata said that one-third of the 44,000 people awaiting trial in Nigeria were in jail. He said 9,707 prison service officers had been promoted to enhance productivity. In October 2001 Shata said that Niger and Nigeria would soon launch joint border patrols along their borders to check trans-border crimes. In November 2001 Shata said the government was planning to issue special identity cards to foreigners living in the country to improve security due to the 11 September attacks in the US.
  As Minister of Internal Affairs, in January 2003 Shata blamed "mischief makers" for a report that immigration service officers were planning to go on strike. The same month, he said preparations for launch of the national identity card system on 18 February were going on smoothly, with 10 billion naira in funding to pay subcontractors. In May 2003 Shata announced that Nigeria's population was between 160 to 170 million, rather than the projected 120 million, based on matching voter registration and ID card registration numbers.
  
  wn.com/Mohammed_Shata
• Mountaga Tall
  Mountaga Tall (born December 10, 1956) is a Malian politician. He is the President of the National Congress for Democratic Initiative (CNID) and a Deputy in the National Assembly of Mali; he has also served as a member of the Pan-African Parliament.
  Tall was born in Ségou. A lawyer by profession, he founded CNID and ran as the party's candidate in the 1992 presidential election, when he placed third with 11.41% of the votes, after Alpha Oumar Konaré (ADEMA-PASJ) and Tiéoulé Konaté (US-RDA). He served as a deputy in the National Assembly from 1992 to 1997.
  The CNID, along with other opposition parties, boycotted the presidential election held on May 11, 1997. On May 12, Tall said that Konaré, who had been re-elected, was not legitimately President; Tall's office was attacked with molotov cocktails and badly damaged on the same day. Tall and CNID participated in a boycott of the July 1997 parliamentary election. He was one of many opposition leaders who were arrested on August 9, 1997, in connection with the killing of a police officer at a rally on August 8; they were charged on August 14.
  
  wn.com/Mountaga_Tall
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  Muhammadu Buhari
  Muhammadu Buhari (born December 17, 1942) was a Major General in the Nigerian Army and a former military ruler of Nigeria from December 31, 1983 to August 27, 1985. He also ran unsuccessfully for the office of the President of Nigeria in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 elections. His ethnic background is Fulani, and his faith is Islam; he is a native of Daura in Katsina State of Nigeria.
  Having joined the army in 1962, Buhari first came to widespread public attention in 1976 when he became the Minister (or "Federal Commissioner") for Petroleum and Natural Resources under then-Head of State General Olusegun Obasanjo. Before then he served as Governor of the newly created North-Eastern State during the regime of Murtala Mohammed. He later became head of the newly created Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in 1977.
  Major-General Buhari was selected to lead the country by middle and high-ranking military officers after a successful military coup d'etat that overthrew civilian President Shehu Shagari on December 31, 1983. At the time, Buhari was head of the Third Armored Division of Jos. Buhari was appointed Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and Tunde Idiagbon was appointed Chief of General Staff (the de facto No. 2 in the administration). Buhari justified the military's seizure of power by castigating the civilian government as hopelessly corrupt, and his administration subsequently initiated a public campaign against indiscipline known as "War Against Indiscipline" (WAI). Aspects of this campaign included public humiliation of civil servants who arrived late for work whilst guards were armed with whips to ensure orderly queues at bus stops.
  
  wn.com/Muhammadu_Buhari
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  Murtala Nyako
  Vice Admiral Murtala Nyako (rtd), GCON, CFR: rcds, D.Agric. (H.C.) was elected Executive Governor of Adamawa State, Nigeria, taking office in May 2007. Prior to then he served in the Navy, at one time being military governor of Niger State, and being appointed Chief of Naval Staff in December 1989.
  Murtala Hamman-Yero Nyako was born at Mayo-Belwa, Adamawa State on 27 August 1943. His father, Alhaji Hamman-Yero, was a notable merchant and produce buying agent, whose mercantile activities was directly responsible for the establishment of John Holts and Sons Ltd centre at Mayo-Belwa. His mother, Hajiya Maryam Daso, was a housewife who was keen on Islamic studies and herbal medicine.
  He started his western education at Mayo-Belwa Elementary School in January 1952, proceeded to Yola Middle School in January 1955 and commenced his secondary school education in the same school in January 1958. He was noted whilst there for his academic achievements and sporting prowess.
  Nyako joined the Royal Nigerian Navy in June 1963 as an officer cadet, commenced his officer training at the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, England in September 1963, was commissioned as a Sub-Lieutenant in September 1965 and completed his initial naval training in September 1965.
  
  wn.com/Murtala_Nyako
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  Neneh Cherry
  Neneh Mariann Cherry (born Neneh Mariann Karlsson; 10 March 1964) is a Swedish singer-songwriter, rapper, and occasional DJ and broadcaster. Blending hip hop with other influences, Cherry experienced mainstream success with several of her recordings.
  Cherry was born in Stockholm to a Sierra Leonean father, drummer Amahdu Jah, and a Swedish mother, painter and textile artist Monica Karlsson, later known as Moki Cherry. Her stepfather Don Cherry, an American jazz musician, helped raise her since birth and she took his surname. Through her father, she is the half-sister of singer Titiyo and record producer Cherno Jah, and through her mother, she is the half-sister of musician Eagle-Eye Cherry. She has a stepsister, violinist Jan Cherry, and a stepbrother, jazz musician David Ornette Cherry.
  During the first years of her life, Cherry lived in a hippie commune just outside the small town of Hässleholm. The family later moved to Pudsey, England, and in the early 1970s, they lived in an apartment on East Ninth Street in New York. At the age of 14, Cherry dropped out of school and moved to London.
  
  wn.com/Neneh_Cherry
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  Ogoni people
  Ogoni people are one of the many indigenous peoples in the region of southeast Nigeria. They share common oil related environmental problem with the Ijaw people of Niger Delta, but Ogonis are not listed in the list of people historically belonging to Niger Delta. They number about one point five million people and live in a 404-square-mile (1,050 km²) homeland which they also refer to as Ogoni, or Ogoniland.
  The Ogoni rose to international attention after a massive public protest campaign against Shell Oil, led by the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP).
  The territory is located in Rivers State on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, east of the city of Port Harcourt. It extends across the Local Government Areas (LGAs) Khana, Gokana, Tai, and Eleme. Traditionally, Ogoniland is divided into the six kingdoms of Babbe, Eleme, Gokana, Ken-Khana, Nyo-Khana, and Tai.
  The Ogoni speak the related, mutually intelligible languages of Khana, Gokana, Tai (Tẹẹ), Eleme and Ban Ogoi part of the linguistic diversity of the Niger Delta.
  
  wn.com/Ogoni_people
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  Omar Ibn Said
  Omar ibn Said (1770–1864) was born in present-day Senegal in Futa Tooro, a region along the Middle Senegal River in West Africa, to a wealthy family. He was an Islamic scholar and a Fula who spent 25 years of his life studying with prominent Muslim scholars, learning subjects ranging from arithmetic to theology in Africa. In 1807, he was captured during a military conflict, enslaved and taken across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States. He escaped from a cruel master in Charleston, South Carolina, and journeyed to Fayetteville, North Carolina. There he was recaptured and later sold to James Owen. Said lived into his mid-nineties and was still a slave at the time of his death in 1864. He was buried in Bladen County, North Carolina. Omar ibn Said was also known as Uncle Moreau and Prince Omeroh.
  
  wn.com/Omar_Ibn_Said
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  Oumou Sy
  Oumou Sy (born 1952 in Podor, Senegal) is a Senegalese fashion designer frequently referred to as "Senegal's Queen of Couture". She is Senegal's most internationally known haute couture designer.^{[citation needed]} Her collections have been shown in fashion shows in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the U.S.^{[citation needed]} She owns her own stores in Geneva and Paris. She designed the wardrobe for the Senegalese singers Baaba Maal and Youssou N'Dour, and has won various awards at international film festivals for her costume designs. She is a 1998 laureate of the international Prince Claus Awards.
  Oumou Sy was born in 1952 in Podor, Senegal.
  She founded the association Metissacana, that supports the cultural and economic exchange between the continents. She lives and works in Dakar.
  
  
  
  
  
  wn.com/Oumou_Sy
• Ousmane Sy
  Ousmane Sy (born May 25, 1949) is a Malian politician.
  Ousmane Sy was born in Bandiagara, Mali. He received his higher education in France. He holds a Doctorate in Economic and Social Development (University of Paris I) and two advanced Diplomas with specializations in agricultural development (Paris I) and agricultural economics (ISTOM, Le Havre).
  Sy was appointed as an expert adviser to the United Nations Development Programme and later headed the Commission for Decentralization and Institutional Reform in Mali. He served as Minister for Territorial Administration and Local Communities under President Alpha Oumar Konaré.
  He was in charge of the Malian presidential elections in 2002, which were won by Amadou Toumani Toure. The elections were said by critics to be fraudulent. Mr Sy is on record as saying that he could neither confirm nor deny whether there was rigging in those elections.
  He is the founder of the Centre for Political and Institutional Expertise in Africa (CEPIA), a consultancy service which he has also directed since January 2004.
  
  wn.com/Ousmane_Sy
• Sadou Hayatou
  Sadou Hayatou (born 1942) is a former Cameroonian politician. Hayatou served as Prime Minister of Cameroon from 26 April 1991 to 9 April 1992.
  Hayatou was born in Garoua.^{[citation needed]} He was appointed to the government of Cameroon as Minister of Agriculture in 1984.
  After his stint as Prime Minister, Hayatou became National Director of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), leaving that post on January 1, 2008. Despite the official retirement age at the Bank being 60, Hayatou was kept in his post for five additional years by BEAC Governor Jean-Félix Mamalepot.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Sadou_Hayatou
• Saifoulaye Diallo
  Saifoulaye Diallo (1 July 1923 – 25 September 1981) was a Guinean politician, lawmaker and cabinet member.Diallo served in the French national assembly 1956-1958. He was the political secretary of the ruling Parti démocratique de Guinée and the de facto number-two statesman during the first five years of the Republic of Guinea. He served as President of the Territorial Assembly (March 1957–1958) and President of the National Assembly (1958–1963). In January 1963, he entered the government as Minister of State and held various cabinet portfolios (foreign affairs, finance, social services) under President Ahmed Sékou Touré, until his death in 1981.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Saifoulaye_Diallo
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  Sanusi Lamido Sanusi
  Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (born 31 July 1961) was appointed Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria on 3 June 2009. He is a career banker and ranking Fulani nobleman, and also serves as a respected Islamic scholar. The renowned global financial intelliegence magazine, The Banker, published by the Financial Times, has conferred on Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi two awards. He has been recognised with the global award for Central Bank Governor of the Year, as well as for Central Bank Governor of the Year for Africa. The TIME magazine also listed Sanusi in its TIMES 100 list of most influential people of 2011
  Sanusi was born on July 31, 1961. His father was a Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the 1960s and his grandfather was Emir of Kano and Islamic Scholar, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi. Sanusi graduated from King's College Lagos in 1977 and studied at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria earning a BSc in Economics in 1981. He then taught economics at ABU from 1983 to 1985. He also obtained a degree in Islamic law from International University of Africa, Khartoum.
  
  wn.com/Sanusi_Lamido_Sanusi
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  Serer people
  The Serer people (also spelt "Sérère", "Sereer", "Serere", "Seereer" and sometimes wrongly "Serre") along with the Jola people are acknowledged to be the oldest inhabitants of The Senegambia.
  In modern day Senegal, the Serer people live in the west-central part of the country, running from the southern edge of Dakar to The Gambian border. The Serer (also known as "Seex" or "Sine-Sine") occupy the ancient Sine and Saloum areas (now part of modern day independent Senegal). In The Gambia, they occupy parts of old "Nuimi" and "Baddibu" as well as The Gambian "Kombo". The Serer-Noon occupy the ancient area of Thiès in modern day Senegal. The Serer-Ndut are found in southern Cayor and north west of ancient Thiès. The Serer-Njeghen occupy old Baol; the Serer-Palor occupies the west central, west southwest of Thiès and the Serer-Laalaa occupy west central, north of Thiès and the Tambacounda area.
  The Serer people are the third largest ethnic group in Senegal making up 14.7% of the Senegalese population. In Gambia they make up less than 2% of the population. Along with Senegal and The Gambia, they are also found in small numbers in southern Mauritania. Some notable Gambian Serers include Isatou Njie-Saidy, Vice President of The Gambia since 20 March 1997, and the late Senegambian historian, politician and advocate for Gambia's independence during the colonial era - Alhaji Alieu Ebrima Cham Joof. In Senegal they include Leopold Sedar Senghor and Abdou Diouf (first and second president of Senegal respectively).
  
  wn.com/Serer_people
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  Shehu Shagari
  Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari, Turakin Sakkwato (born February 25, 1925,) served as the President of Nigeria's Second Republic (1979–1983), after the handover of power by General Olusegun Obasanjo's military government.
  Shagari is a northerner of Fulani extraction and holds the aristocratic title of Turakin Sakkwato in the Sokoto Caliphate. He worked as a teacher for a brief period before entering politics in 1954 upon his election to the federal House of Representatives.
  Shehu Usman Shagari was born in Shagari village to the family of Magaji Aliyu and Mariamu in 1925. His name, Usman, means "Companion". He was raised in a polygamous family, and was the sixth child born into the family. Prior to becoming Magajin Shagari, Aliyu, Shehu's father was a farmer, trader and herder. However, due to traditional rites that prevented rulers from participating in business, Aliyu relinquished some of his trading interest when he became the Magaji, or village head, of Shagari village. Aliyu died five years after Shehu's birth, and Shehu's elder brother, Bello, briefly took on his father's mantle as Magajin Shagari.
  
  wn.com/Shehu_Shagari
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  Thomas Sankara
  Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (December 21, 1949 – October 15, 1987) was a Burkinabé military captain, Marxist revolutionary, Pan-Africanist theorist, and President of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987. Viewed as a charismatic and iconic figure of revolution, he is commonly referred to as "Africa's Che Guevara."
  
  wn.com/Thomas_Sankara
• Tiv people
  Tiv are an ethno-linguistic group or ethnic nation in West Africa. They constitute approximately 3.5% of Nigeria's total population, and number over 6 million individuals throughout Nigeria and Cameroon. The Tiv are the 4th largest ethnic group in Nigeria. Tiv language is spoken by about 7 million people in Nigeria, with a few speakers in Cameroon. Most of the language's Nigerian speakers are found in Benue State of Nigeria. The language is also widely spoken in the Nigerian States of Plateau, Taraba, Nasarawa,cross rivers as well as the FCT Abuja. It is part of the Southern Bantoid Tivoid family, a branch of Benue-Congo and ultimately of the Niger-Congo phylum. In precolonial times, the Hausa ethnic group referred to the Tiv 'Munchi' a term not accepted by Tiv people. They depend on agricultural produce for commerce and life.
  The Tiv came into contact with European culture during the colonial period. During November 1907 to spring 1908, an expedition of the Southern Nigeria Regiment led by Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Trenchard's came into contact with the Tiv. Trenchard brought gifts for the tribal chiefs. Subsequently, roads were built and trade links established between Europeans and the Tiv.
  
  wn.com/Tiv_people
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  Usman dan Fodio
  Shaihu Usman dan Fodio (Arabic: عثمان بن فودي ، عثمان دان فوديو‎), born Usuman ɓii Foduye, (also referred to as Shaikh Usman Ibn Fodio, Shehu Uthman Dan Fuduye, or Shehu Usman dan Fodio, 1754–1817) was the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate in 1809, a religious teacher, writer and Islamic promoter. Dan Fodio was one of a class of urbanized ethnic Fulani living in the Hausa States in what is today northern Nigeria. A teacher of the Maliki school of law and the Qadiriyyah order of Sufism, he lived in the city-state of Gobir until 1802 when, motivated by his reformist ideas and under increased repression by local authorities, he led his followers into exile. This exile began a political and social revolution which spread from Gobir throughout modern Nigeria and Cameroon, and was echoed in an ethnicly Fula-led Jihad movement across West Africa. Dan Fodio declined much of the pomp of rulership, and while developing contacts with religious reformists and Jihad leaders across Africa, he soon passed actual leadership of the Sokoto state to his son, Muhammed Bello.
  
  wn.com/Usman_dan_Fodio
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  Wodaabe
  The Wodaabe (Fula: Woɗaaɓe) or Bororo are a small subgroup of the Fulani ethnic group. They are traditionally nomadic cattle-herders and traders in the Sahel, with migrations stretching from southern Niger, through northern Nigeria, northeastern Cameroon, and the western region of the Central African Republic. The number of Wodaabe was estimated in 1983 to be 45,000. They are known for their beauty (both men and women), elaborate attire and rich cultural ceremonies.
  The Wodaabe speak the Fula language and don't use a written language. In the Fula language, woɗa means "taboo", and Woɗaaɓe means "people of the taboo". "Wodaabe" is an Anglicisation of Woɗaaɓe. This is sometimes translated as "those who respect taboos", a reference to the Wodaabe isolation from broader Fulbe culture, and their contention that they retain "older" traditions than their Fulbe neighbors. In contrast, other Fulbe as well as other ethnic groups sometimes refer to the Wodaabe as "Bororo", a sometimes pejorative name, translated into English as "Cattle Fulani", and meaning "those who dwell in cattle camps". By the 17th century, the Fula people across West Africa were among the first ethnic groups to embrace Islam, were often leaders of those forces which spread Islam, and have been traditionally proud of the urban, literate, and pious life with which this has been related. Both Wodaabe and other Fulbe see in the Wodaabe the echos of an earlier pastoralist way of life, of which the Wodaabe are proud and of which urban Fulbe are sometimes critical.
  
  wn.com/Wodaabe
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  Wolof people
  The Wolof are an ethnic group found in Senegal, The Gambia, and Mauritania.
  In Senegal, the Wolof form an ethnic plurality with about 43.3% of the population are Wolofs. Note however that, this figure is somewhat misleading because other tribes who have been Wolofized and speak the Wolof language are added to this figure while they are not originally Wolofs.
  In The Gambia, about 16% of the population are Wolof. Here, they are a minority, where the Mandinka are the plurality with 42% of the population, yet Wolof language and culture have a disproportionate influence because of their prevalence in Banjul, The Gambia's capital, where majority of the population are Wolof.
  In Mauritania, about 8% of the population are Wolof. They live largely in the southern coastal region of the country.
  In older French publications the spelling "Ouolof" is often used instead of "Wolof". In some English publications, predominantly those referring to Gambian Wolof, the spelling "Wollof" is used, because this spelling will induce native English speakers to pronounce the term correctly as a Wolof speaker. In publications of the 19th century and before the spelling "Volof" and "Olof" can also be found. Rarely used are also the spellings "Jolof", "Jollof" and "Dyolof". - The term "Wolof" itself may also refer to the Wolof language or to things originating from Wolof culture or tradition.
  
  wn.com/Wolof_people
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  Yoruba people
  The Yoruba people (Yorùbá in Yoruba orthography) are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language (Yoruba: èdèe Yorùbá; èdè). The Yoruba constitute between 30 and 50 million individuals throughout West Africa and are found predominantly in Nigeria and make up around 21% of its population.
  The Yoruba share borders with the Borgu (variously called "Baruba" and "Borgawa") in the northwest; the Nupe (whom they often call "Tapa") and Ebira in the north; and the Edo, the Ẹsan, and the Afemai to the southeast. The Igala and other related groups are found in the northeast, and the Egun, Fon, and others in the southwest. The Itsekiri who live in the north-west Niger delta, are closely related to the Yoruba but maintain a distinct cultural identity. While the majority of the Yoruba live in western Nigeria, there are also substantial indigenous Yoruba communities in the Republic of Benin and Togo, plus large groups of Yoruba migrants living in the United States and the United Kingdom. The Yoruba population was also involved in slavery and were taken to the Americas, where they form a large diaspora.
  
  wn.com/Yoruba_people
• Youssouf Sambo Bâ
  Youssouf Sambo Bâ (born May 10, 1942 in Boborgou, Niger) is a Burkinabé politician and retired teacher. He is the President of the Party for Democracy and Socialism.
  Bâ was headmaster of Collège d'Enseignement Général in Bobo-Dioulasso from 1974 to 1977.
  On January 7, 1983 Bâ was named Cabinet Director of the Ministry of National Education, Arts and Culture, by the ruling CSP junta.
  Sambo Bâ was elected to the National Assembly in the May 2007 parliamentary election as a candidate on the PDS national list. He was one of only two PDS candidates to win a seat.
  
  wn.com/Youssouf_Sambo_Bâ

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