Published Paper Details:

This paper examines two historical events to highlight the assertion that history repeats itself. This assertion is so true of the happenings today in the Lake Chad area in general, and Borno in particular, which has for the last dozen years been ravaged by the vicious Boko Haram insurgency, leaving its hitherto proud people in horrifying destitution, plunder, poverty and ultimately cruel death. A little over a hundred years ago, Borno was the theatre of a similar calamity. Then, the Bilad al Sudan adventurer, Rabih ibn Fadl Allah ravaged the entire region; taking over and plundering the once mighty Borno Empire; killing its king and princes, slaughtering the innocent, and enslaving its lavish citizens. The event was aptly captured by a contemporary, Imam Ali Ruqayyami in a poem, entitled: Dhikr Wuqu’i Rabihal Makhtum, through which the two historical episodes are captured. Through an analytical discussion of the two events we can appreciate that without an in-depth study and reflection of history, it is difficult to understand the affairs of the human elements in their lives.