Special Report (Investigative Journalism): Lake Chad, Sahara Desert And Kanem-Borno:
Did you know that Lake Chad has shrunk 90% of its original size and that the Sahara Desert was once fertile green land?
By Abacha Muhammad
14th October, 2022
Historically, complex human relationships exist between humans and the environment in the desiccating Lake Chad Basin. KanemPress investigation reveals that the settlement of the Chad Basin was made possible by the overflows and decline of Lake Chad itself, a large body of fresh water that has unfortunately shrunk by about 90% of its original size – from 27,000 square kilometers to 1,500 square kilometers today. Between 5,000 and 2,500 years before the present (BP) the volume of the lake stabilized at about 280 meters above sea level, after which period continuous human habitation on its shores became possible. Because of its unique location in the heart of this arid region, the lake has supported a great variety of animal and plant life and provided sustenance for fishermen, herders, and farmers. It was this fertile and rich land that supported the great civilization that was the Kanem-Bornu Empire, which was ethnically and culturally heterogeneous.
This strategic location of the lake in the heart of Africa was also its biggest drawback as it became a magnet for local and foreign adventurers like Rabeh Ibn Fadlallah as well as the British, French and German colonial powers. KanemPress research discovered that the environment in present-day Kanem-Borno has indeed shaped the course of human development in the Lake Chad Basin because the history of lakeside communities was synonymous with the history of lake draining bed inhabitation.
Without necessarily compromising too much environmental determinism, scholars reasonably claim that, by influencing the possible choices of occupations, trades, and areas of settlement, the peculiar environmental history, features and geographic characteristics of Central Sudan have influenced, and at times defined them. historical development in the region.
The relationship between humans and the environment is a complex interrelationship. According to James Connelly and colleagues in their work titled “Politics and the Environment: From Theory to Practice, 3rdEdition”, which is a 400-page book published in 2012 by Routledge, environment refers to “the whole of the natural world – from ecosystem to biosphere – within which human beings and all other plant and animal world have their being”. Attempts by humans have been since prehistoric times. It is the control, modification or adaptation of their environment. Similarly, the environment has shaped the course of human development in all regions of the world. This is especially true of the Central Sudan region in general and Kanem-Borno in particular, where the population of the region has been linked to the aridity and dryness of Lake Chad.
The human impact on the environment is minimal, especially with regard to environmental degradation. However, human activity may have contributed to the environmental degradation of Borno (Borno here includes present-day Yobe State) especially after the 14th century. The “scorching earth” war strategy used by Mai Idris Alauma (who ruled the empire from 1570-
1603) could not but affect the immediate environment. However, historians admit that they lack evidence for this claim. Likewise, the wars of the nineteenth century, beginning with the Fulani rebellion and ending in Rabeh Fadlallah’s looting, left in its wake devastation and famine.
The historical term “Kanem”, which is the predecessor of “Borno” was first used in written sources in the 19th century C.E. in the writings of the Arab geographer Al-Ya’qubi. Historians have shown that little is known about the kingdom’s territorial boundaries as it expanded and contracted through the centuries depending on the relative strength of the empire and its rulers and their imperial ambitions toward its neighbours. At its peak under Mai Idris Alauma, the Kanem-Bornu influence was felt as far as the Fezzan in the north (now Fezzan is in the southwestern part of present-day Libya), the Bauchi-Jos plateau in the south, the Cameroon Mountains in the east and Hausaland in the west. This area represents ecological, cultural, and ethnic diversity. The primary occupation of the Kanem rulers, and later Borno, was how to manage this pluralism with the aim of asserting their control over the empire.
Geographically, most of the Kanem-Borno region is vast plains devoid of features except for sand dunes. The terrain is mostly sandy and increases as one moves from south to north. In the areas to the south and southwest there is lacustrine or lake clay, the black clay soil known as ‘firgi’ in local dialects and ‘fǝryi’ or ‘fǝrii’ in Kanuri language. The water-retaining firgi helps to grow different types of sorghum, i.e., ‘ngabuli’ or ‘ngawuri’ (in Kanuri language) and Masakwa. The difference supports double cultivation within one year.
Kanem-Borno is dry most of the year. The rains start late and end early, mostly from July to October and usually range from 160 to 80 days from south to north. Average annual precipitation ranges from 1,125 millimeters at the foothills of the Mandara Mountains in the south to 290 millimeters at Abadam in the northeast. The rainy season is followed by a cool, dry and dusty season, referred to as the ‘harmattan’, which begins in November and extends through February. It is an extremely dry, dusty wind blowing in a northeasterly direction across the Sahara. This period heralds a noticeable drop in temperature, often dropping to 20.0° Celsius while nighttime temperatures can drop to 7.7° Celsius or less. As of the time of this writing (October 1, 2022), it is roughly 30 or 40 days until winter arrives. In the hot dry months from March to June, the temperature in much of the Kanem-Borno region (particularly Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Bauchi and Gombe states) rises to 38.8° Celsius in April. It is not uncommon at this time for maximum daytime temperatures to reach 43.3 °Celsius in the north and northeast.
The density of vegetation depends in part on the amount of precipitation. According to experts while participating in the KanemPresss investigation, there is a close relationship between the climate and the desert-like vegetation of the Kanem-Borno region. In the north where rainfall is low, vegetation is sparse. This belt is usually dominated by acacia trees and savannah shrubs. It is an open, featureless land that extends for several kilometers at its end and is dominated by seasonal grass cover during the short rainy season, which then dries up during the dry season from the predominant vegetation in the area. In the southern parts of the region where rainfall is generally abundant, woodland vegetation can be found. The ‘notorious’ Sambisa forest is one of these.
This predominant vegetation in the savannah and the lack of natural vegetation barriers made navigation relatively easy for merchants, herders, and warriors alike. This is reflected in the ease with which the German explorer Gustav Nachtigal was able to travel from Kanem-Borno to the Nile. Similarly, the Sudanese conqueror Rabeh Ibn Fadlallah also moved on the same path in the opposite direction at the end of the 19th century. The movement of the Saifawa rulers from Kanem in the east of Lake Chad to Borno in the west in the fourth century, the movement accompanying the pastoral groups arising from the migration of the Saifawa, made famous Western historians such as Graham E. Connah to view the savannah as a corridor in the heart of Africa. These open savanna grounds allowed for extensive use of horses in the empire-building years of the Saifawa dynasty in the 14th century onwards. The effective use of the terrain, both for offensive and defensive purposes, as part of military strategy, often determined the difference between victory and defeat in the wars led by Rabeh in the 19th century.
The Sahara Desert and Lake Chad are among the highlights of this region. Despite the changes this region has undergone over the past decades, KanemPress’ investigation gathered that “…as a result of climatic changes, the Sahara Desert and Lake Chad have been and continue to influence the course of human development in Kanem-Borno.” It is therefore necessary to briefly draw sketch of the Sahara and Lake Chad with the aim of understanding the historical development of these natural phenomena as well as the region.
A Brief Look at the Annals of the Great Sahara Desert
The Sahara can be likened to a “sea of sand,” says one expert who took part in the KanemPress survey. In hyperbolic terms, another expert participant says: “The desert is as vast as the Earth itself.” The Sahara Desert is said to be the hottest and largest in the world. It covers most of the northern half of Africa, stretching from the cost of the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The desert is completely barren and there is no water except in oases and river valleys.
Experts have consistently argued that despite this particular characteristic of the Sahara Desert had that made travel and living difficult (in those times), it has not made them impossible because, according them, the Sahara was not a barrier between North Africa and areas farther south given that commercial relations went on for centuries along definite trans-Saharan routes. This assertion was supported by renown historians such as Edward W. Bovill in his famous work “Golden trade of the Moors”. One of these trans-Saharan routes had always had a major town of Kanem-Borno as its southern terminus. The management and organization of these routes had been a recurrent theme of the politics and diplomacy of kingdoms and city-states on its fringes.
Responding to KanemPress investigative survey questions regarding the claims that the Sahara Desert was once an expanse of lush green area, an academic scholar in history and archaeology affirmed the claims while explaining that the desiccation or drying up of the Sahara began around 2000 years the birth of Christ (B.C.). According to him, before that time, the area supported human and animal population in large numbers. The process of human habitation and state formation in the fringes of the Sahara Desert has been attributed to the desiccation.
Drying up such as this, also known as “desiccation” in historical or scientific terms can result from either “climatic change or human activity”, two phenomena that are difficult to distinguish. This is because “a temporary or prolonged deterioration of the climate may accentuate the harmful effects of human activity or vice-versa. Thus, the widespread assumption that human activity invariably leads to environmental deterioration is difficult to substantiate”, the scholar added.
Further investigation revealed that the Sahara is a natural phenomenon – it is not a man-made desert. The desiccation of the Sahara is ascribed to Africa’s geographical location 30° of the equator, which means a large part of its surface, is occupied by “dry descending air and receives little rain”. In addition, temperatures at low altitudes are usually high all year round, which increases water losses from land and water surfaces, especially in tropical areas of low rainfall and relative humidity.
A Brief Overview of the Annals of Lake Chad
Kanem and Borno date back in part to the spread of the drying stratum of Lake Chad, located on the southern fringes of the Sahara. This vast amount of fresh water has “undoubtedly had a significant impact on the environment and the population of the vicinity,” says an academic scholar while responding to the KanemPress survey questions. The scholar also said that asserted that the environmental changes in the Chad Basin are linked to the transgressions (overflows) and regressions of the lake. These changes in the lake level can be natural or human.
Further desk research by KanemPress has shown that the Lake Chad is the remnant of a far larger lake known to history as “Mega-Chad”. The size and level of the lake has increased and decreased over time. Currently standing at 1,500 kilometers squared due to environmental degradation, the Lake had covered an area of 27,000 kilometers squared in the past.
Primarily fed by the surrounding rivers, the Shari-Logone, its principal source, annually supplies 40.4 milliard cubic metre. Other feeder rivers include El-Beid, Yobe and Yedseram. An estimated 6.6 milliard M3 is supplied by rain directly falling on its surface. Fifty-five thousand years ago, the Lake stretched from Bama and Gashua in its southern region and west to the foothills of the Tibesti mountains in its north-east region. The surface of this sheet of water stood at 380-400 metres above sea level, and was believed to have overflowed its banks and drained into the river Benue. Furthermore, the research shows that the lake dried up between 21,500 and 12,500 years ago, and sand dunes were said to have formed on its surface. Renown German scholar Heinrich Thiemeyer in his conference paper published in 2000 titled “From Mega-Chad to Micro-Chad: Environmental changes during the Holocene” estimated this period to be 20,000 to 12,000 years. This was followed by a wet period when the lake reappeared and stood 320 meters above sea level. It follows what the famous historian Sylvia K. Sykes referred to it as the “the lagoonal period”, when the lake fell to 287 meters above sea level. This stage is attributed to the formation of the Ngilewa mountain range.
At this juncture, British archaeologist, Graham E. Connah, argued that “by damming up, or holding back a large lagoon to its south, it was this shoreline that created the conditions for the creation of the lacustrine and lagoonal clays that played an important role in human habitation of the area” as mentioned elsewhere earlier. From 5000 to 2500 years ago, the lake decreased to its fairly stable size of 280 metres above sea level. It seems that only after this period did continuous human settlement and occupation of the lake and its shores become possible.
The Lake Chad and its Resources
Because of its unique location in the heart of this arid region, Lake Chad has provided sustenance for the fishermen, pastoralists and farmers who live on its shores and has remained a “focal point of mixing peoples and cultures for centuries” according to KanemPress survey participant. The lake and its environs have supported a variety of animal and plant life including humans.
Therefore, Kanem-Borno human settlement is concentrated on the lake. The lake probably supports more aquatic organisms known as “zooplankton” than any other lake in Africa, and therefore, it supports many species of fish, including the great Nile perch, lungfish, etc. The mammalian fauna (animals) of the Lake was equally large and varied and included domestic and wild animals. Wild animals such as hippopotamuses, deer, hyenas, leopards, civets, etc. lived there. The bird population of the lake was also quite impressive. The Lake, therefore, supported human habitation of its shores, islands and environs.
The shore of the lake was an attractive pasture land for pastoral groups such as Yedina, Kanembu, Shuwa- Arabs, and Fulani. This explains the concentration of these Bedouin pastoral groups around the shores of the lake from the fourteenth century until the present era. After the massive influx of different groups into the Chad Basin after the 14th century, the area became an important center for commercial activity in cattle and natron. The market towns of western Kanem-Borno were famous for their livestock trade, while places like Kauwa, Moduwari, Yamia and Gudimuni were famous for the production and trade of natron. By the 19th century, the Lake had attracted the attention of many adventurers including European explorers and a European explorers and Rabeh Fadlallah.
Lake Chad and the European Intruders
Lake Chad due to its central and advantageous location in the heart of Africa has attracted the attention of adventurers, Europeans and Africans. By the 19th century, Kanem-Borno received many European explorers such as Denham, Clapperton, Oudney, Tyrwhitt and Vogel (1824-1826); and Barth, Richardson, Overweg and Vogel (1850-1855), etc. These explorers came mostly on missions that were ‘scientific’ but eventually became precursors to the imperial conquest and occupation of the Chad Basin.
Rabeh Fadlallah was another adventurer who succeeded in defeating the rulers of Kanem-Borno in 1893. By occupying this region in the last years of the century, he unwittingly set himself up in competition for the Chad Basin, against the Empire. The ambitions of Britain, France and Germany. Race policy to Chad has been dealt with in detail elsewhere. Rabeh to complicate matters in the European race for Chad. After his expulsion from the Sudan by the Anglo-Egyptian government, his movement towards the West was required by economic and political conditions which made his permanent establishment anywhere untenable. He avoided any direct confrontation with the Europeans. Although the Mahdi uprising had set up a barrier between him and the Europeans in the north, he avoided venturing in the south to avoid confrontation with the Europeans in the Congo. Thus Rabieh’s working area was far inland, still far from the threatened European presence.
By the 1880s, European imperialism took a keen interest in the area it conquered. British companies operating in Niger were merged under the influence of George Goldie to form what later became the Royal Niger Company to protect British imperial interests until the British government was ready to take over in 1900. The French also established an enterprise in the Republic of Niger. The Chad Basin is an important objective of their imperial policy. The German Empire’s interest in the Chad Basin was not revealed until after the Berlin West African Conference of 1884. After 1890, Kanem-Borno became a point of anxious and sharp rivalry between Britain, France and Germany.
They were in an area allotted to them in Berlin: Baghirmi to the French, metropolitan Borno to the British, and Rabeh’s capital of Dikwa to the Germans, it became clear to the Europeans that unless an alliance was made with Rabeh, at least one of them would have to take to the field against him. The rivalry between Britain and France and the formidable military ability of Rabeh made him an important player as well as a target. Every power wanted to extract a treaty from him. Unknown to them, Rabeh was not only determined to preserve his independence, but he believed that European powers were not keeping promises they made to weak parties. Rabeh’s main policy toward Europeans was that of caution, born of fear and mistrust.
However, he was pragmatic enough to seek trade with the British established in Benue. Between 1897 and April 1900, the French engaged Rabeh in many pitched battles. He died in one such battle on the banks of the Shari on 22 April 1900. Since that time, modern Borno did not experience such massive warfare until the Maitatine uprisings of the 1980s and most lately, the Boko Haram-cum-ISWAP insurgency (2009 to date), which many argue is the worse since the defeat of Rabeh.
Finally, the history of Kanem-Borno was determined, to a large extent, by forces beyond the control of its inhabitants. Thus, the environment determined the course of human development. Because it has been proven that the history of this area was synonymous with the history of the drying up of Lake Chad. The fertile farming and grazing lands around the lake made it attractive to farmers and herders alike. Thus, the region became a point of conflict between these groups. The unique location of Lake Chad in the heart of Africa made it attractive to merchants, conquerors and state builders. Rabeh Fadlallah in the 19th century was one of these adventurers. The occupation of the Kanem-Borno Spring in the midst of the imperial race of the lake brought him into direct confrontation with them. Unable to extract a concession from Rabeh, France had to come to a military conclusion with Rabeh. Arguably, however, since the defeat and killing of Rabeh modern Borno (including entire north east of Nigeria) did not face massive warfare as Boko Haram-cum-ISWAP.
The Collaborative Media Engagement supported by Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), is aimed to strengthen media independence and presence, especially at the sub-national levels, state, local government and the private sector, in a bid to improve public awareness and the ecosystem for transparency, accountability and good governance.
