Shehu Usman dan Fodio, also known as Uthman ibn Muhammad ibn Uthman ibn Saalih, was a prominent Fulani scholar, Islamic religious teacher, poet, revolutionary, and philosopher. Born on December 15, 1754, in Gobir, he was a descendant of the Torodbe clans of urbanized ethnic Fulani people living in the Hausa Kingdoms since the early 1400s. Usman became well-educated in Islamic studies and began to preach Sunni Islam throughout territories that would later become parts of independent Nigeria and Cameroon.In 1803, he founded the Sokoto Caliphate and his followers pledged allegiance to him as the Commander of the Faithful (Amīr al-Muʾminīn). Under his leadership, the caliphate expanded into present-day Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Southern Niger, and most of Northern Nigeria. Usman emphasized literacy and scholarship for both women and men, and his daughters emerged as scholars and writers. His writings and sayings continue to be influential today, and he is often affectionately referred to as Shehu in Nigeria.Usman dan Fodio's uprising was a significant episode of the 17th, 18th, and 19th-century jihad movement in West Africa. His revolution influenced other rebellions across West Africa and beyond, inspiring a number of later West African jihads. He is considered a mujaddid, a