Usman Dan Fodio was an Islamic Preacher, Philosopher, Statesman, Revolutionary, and Reformer. His collage of writing and quotes are still frequently to date, and in Nigeria he is lovingly referred to as SHEHU
The founder and the first Caliph of the Sokoto Caliphate, devoted his adolescence to the sincere study of the Islamic religion, He founded his school in Degel at the age of 20 and advocated for more rigorous practice of Islam, he quickly attained a solid education in the Classical Islamic Sciences, Philosophies and Theologies.
He spent his early life as a Preacher, Teacher and Writer at the same time he developed into a well-regarded religious thinker, his mentor Jubril Umar was a religious figure who ardently supported Jihad at the time.
In 1774 Dan Fodio began travelling around rural areas as an itinerant Muslim preacher, he played a pivotal role in the spread of Islam through out countryside. Fodio discovered notwithstanding that Hausa Monarch did not closely follow Islam and had combined pagan right with Islamic ones, as such he decided to denounce these authorities after the leaders of his hometown attempted to kill him in 1802, he led hundreds of his supporters into exile in the countryside.
There he homed his reformist views and waged a holy war against the Hausa kings known as Jihad, In this circumstances anyone must leave it for another country
Usman Dan Fodio enlarge Large Portion of Northern Nigeria
in 1811 he stopped fighting and resume teaching and writing although his army kept advancing until 1815 Usman religious empire comprise a large portion of what is now Northern Nigeria, Cameroon as well as portions of Niger.
For the first time in history a single monarch ruled over every Hausa city state, Sokoto became the new capital this theocratic kingdom Sokoto Empire.
