Yakubu Nabame

Yakubu Nabame (c. 1819–1854) was the King of Argungu and leader of the Kebbawa resistance from 1849 until his death in 1854. He is best known for reigniting and leading the struggle for independence against the Sokoto Caliphate, which had conquered Kebbi during its early 19th-century jihad. After years of exile at the Caliph's palace in Sokoto, Nabame returned to Kebbi, declared himself Sarkin Kebbi ('Lord of Kebbi') in 1849, and initiated a revolt that marked the first major territorial loss for the Caliphate outside Bornu. His resistance ended an 18-year truce and continued until the fall of the Caliphate in 1903, cementing Kebbi's independence as an irreversible reality. Nabame is remembered as a heroic figure in Kebbi's history.