Pre-1500 — Ancient settlement#
Kanuri, Bolewa, Karekare, Bade and Ngizim settle the southern Lake Chad basin and the Yobe River.
1500 — 1804 — Pre-colonial polities#
Birni Ngazargamu, capital of the Saifawa Bornu Empire from c. 1470 to 1808, lies in present-day Yobe (Geidam LGA). Kanem–Borno rules the central Sudan for centuries.
1804 — 1903 — The long 19th century#
Sokoto jihadists sack Birni Ngazargamu in 1808; the Bornu court relocates to Kukawa under al-Kanemi. Rabih Fadl Allah invades from Wadai (1893–1900) and devastates the region until killed at Kousseri (22 April 1900).
1900 — 1960 — Colonial provinces#
Bornu Province within Northern Nigeria.
1960 — present — State creation chain#
- 1967 — North-Eastern State.
- 3 Feb 1976 — Borno State.
- 27 Aug 1991 — Babangida hives off Yobe State (capital Damaturu) from western Borno.
- 14 April 2014 — Chibok abduction (in Borno but planned through Yobe corridors); 25 Feb 2018 Dapchi abduction (110 schoolgirls, Yobe) — see Bring Back Our Girls and Boko Haram.Northern Abandonment Cycle