Heritage of Wase
The land beneath the Rock.
A meeting place of peoples. A crossroads of kingdoms. A community forged in the shadow of a 298-metre volcanic neck that can be seen forty kilometres in every direction.
“Visible for forty kilometres in every direction — a trachyte neck rising from the floor of the Benue Rift, all that remains of a once-giant volcano.” — on Wase Rock
Origins
A people shaped by many tongues.
Wase sits roughly 200 kilometres south-east of Jos, in the Benue Rift, and has always been a meeting point of peoples.
Before the 19th century, the area was ruled by the Jukun, who called themselves Wapa, and inhabited by the Basherawa (Yankam). Over centuries, the Tarok (Yargamawa), Boghom (Burmawa), Hausa-Fulani, Kwala, Tiv, and Kanuri settled across its plains.
Today, Wase Local Government Area is organized into four great districts — each carrying forward the living traditions of its people.
Wase
Seat of the Emirate; anchor of the town founded during the 1813 Sokoto Jihad.
Bashar
Home of the Basherawa (Yankam) — guardians of the earliest indigenous heritage of the plains.
Lamba
Home to Boghom (Burmawa) ceremonies — a district of song, farm, and long memory.
Kadarko
Tarok (Yargamawa) heartland — where planting festivals still mark the rhythm of the year.
Landmark
Wase Rock — the silhouette of home.
Rising 298 metres above the plain and 543 metres above sea level, Wase Rock is a trachyte neck — all that remains of a once-giant volcano, its summit split by a narrow chasm.
The rock is more than geography. It is one of only five breeding places in all of Africa for the Rosy White Pelican. About 321 acres around it are gazetted as a bird sanctuary — a natural heritage of global significance.
Timeline
Seven milestones in the Wase story.
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Pre-1800s
The age of the Jukun & Basherawa
The area was ruled by the Jukun (who called themselves Wapa) and home to the Basherawa and other indigenous groups.
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1813
The town is founded
The town of Wase is established during the Sokoto Jihad of Shehu Usman dan Fodio — “deliberately founded to support the effective prosecution of the Jihad along the south-eastern flank.”
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1817–1820
The Wase Emirate is born
Hassan, eldest son of Giwa — a Fulani official from Bauchi — founds the Wase Emirate as a south-eastern outpost of the Sokoto Caliphate system.
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1898
The colonial era begins
British troops arrive; Wase is absorbed into the Royal Niger Company protectorate and later Northern Nigeria — reshaping its trade and governance.
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1976
Plateau State is created
In Nigeria's great state-creation exercise, Wase becomes one of the constituent Local Government Areas of Plateau State.
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2010
The 14th Emir is coronated
On 28 October 2010, HRH Alhaji (Dr.) Muhammadu V Sambo Haruna is coronated as the 14th Emir of Wase — a first-class chieftaincy of Plateau State.
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2026
A new civic chapter
Wase LGA leadership drives reforms on mining safety and youth agricultural empowerment under the PYAEP programme — a new generation claims its seat at the table.
The Throne
HRH Muhammadu V Sambo Haruna.
The 14th Emir of Wase, a first-class traditional ruler of Plateau State, coronated on 28 October 2010.
As chairman of the Plateau State chapter of Jama'atu Nasril Islam (JNI), the Emir has consistently used his platform to call for peace, inter-faith cooperation, and the implementation of commission-of-inquiry reports into past crises.
Long may the throne stand — and may those who serve Wase in politics do so with the dignity the throne demands.
Culture & Economy
A crossroads of trade and tradition.
Wase grew as a corridor between the Jos Plateau, the Benue valley, and the Bauchi emirate — carrying kola, salt, livestock, and grain. Today the economy remains rooted in agriculture and livestock: maize, yams, millet, guinea corn, groundnuts, and cattle.
- Tarok planting festivals in Kadarko keep the rhythm of the farming year.
- Fulani pastoralist customs around Wase town preserve a living nomadic heritage.
- Boghom ceremonies in Lamba carry forward song and communal memory.
- Wase Rock remains the compass — the landmark by which travellers know they are home.
This is our inheritance. Let us serve it well.
Join the movement for a Wase that honors its past and builds its future.
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