Place in Tillaberi Region, Niger
Say
(
Saayi
) is a town in southwest
Niger
, situated on the
Niger River
. It is the capital of the
Say Department
in the
Tillaberi Region
. Say was a small
Songhai
[1]
town prior to the arrival of the Fulani marabout
Alfa Mohamed Diobo
in the nineteenth century who converted the town to a center for Islamic learning and established the
Emirate of Say
.
[2]
The municipality has 58,290 inhabitants,
[3]
[4]
and its economy is dominated by
agriculture
,
herding
and small trade. Today, the inhabitants of Say are mostly
Peulh
,
Songhai
and
Zarma
.
Overview
[
edit
]
The town houses the
Islamic University of Niger
(
Universite Islamique de Say
), an institute of international scope, whose founding was decided following a meeting of the
Organisation of the Islamic Conference
in 1974, but that opened only in 1986. In 1996, it had 400 students, who paid fees much lower than those of the
University of Niamey
.
[5]
In Say there is also a forty-year-old College of Secondary Education (
College d'enseignement secondaire
), with nine teachers and 675 students.
[6]
History
[
edit
]
Say was part of the
Songhay Empire
, which peaked in the 16th century. When the Songhay collapsed after the 1591
Battle of Tondibi
, some of the refugees sheltered in the Say area.
[7]
In the nineteenth century, Say became an
Emirate
under the leadership of the Marabout
Alfa Mohamed Diobo
. The town was occupied by France on 9 May 1897 and administered from
Dahomey
until 1907. In 1928, it became part of the cercle of Niamey. Located 57 km from
Niamey
, not far from the
W National Park
. The town (now an urban commune) has today 70,000 people but bears little resemblance to the ancient center of Islamic learning. In recognition of its former role, however, Niger's first
Madrasa
(Islamic School) was set up here in 1957, and in 1974 the
Organization of the Islamic Conference
designated Say as the site for an Islamic university for West Africa, The new university, the
Islamic University of Say
, opened its doors in October 1986, with
Dr. Abdallah Ben Abdel Mohsen At-Turki
as its rector. Say is connected to the capital Niamey by an all-weather road and has a colorful Friday market to which many tourists flock.
[8]
Mining
[
edit
]
Say is the location of some potential iron ore mines with reserves of about 650MT.
[9]
[10]
An extension of the railway from
Benin
to
Niamey
is proposed which would serve the iron ore mines at Say.
[
citation needed
]
Gallery
[
edit
]
-
Woman from Say, 1898
-
People of Say, 1898
-
People of Say, 1898
-
Marabouts of Say, 1912
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Delafosse, Maurice,
Haut-Senegal-Niger (1870-1926)
(PDF)
, p. 170
, retrieved
20 April
2021
- ^
DECRAENE, DECRAENE (1978),
"Lettre de Say Le futur El Azhar de l'Ouest africain"
,
Le Monde.fr
, LeMonde.fr
, retrieved
18 March
2021
- ^
"Say (Department, Niger) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location"
.
www.citypopulation.de
. Retrieved
17 February
2024
.
- ^
"Institut National de la Statistique du Niger"
.
- ^
Admin (27 May 2015).
"Resources"
(PDF)
.
International Bureau of Education
.
- ^
"Archived copy"
. Archived from
the original
on 28 September 2007
. Retrieved
23 September
2006
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link
)
- ^
DECRAENE, DECRAENE (1978),
"Lettre de Say Le futur El Azhar de l'Ouest africain"
,
Le Monde.fr
, LeMonde.fr
, retrieved
18 March
2021
- ^
Idrissa, Abdourahmane; Decalo, Samuel (2012),
Historical Dictionary of Niger by Abdourahmane Idrissa, Samuel Decalo, Page 399
,
ISBN
9780810870901
, retrieved
18 March
2021
- ^
www.oecd.org: dataoecd
- ^
Niger-MINING
External links
[
edit
]
13°06′N
2°22′E
/
13.100°N 2.367°E
/
13.100; 2.367
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