Yola, town, capital of Adamawa state, and seat of the traditional Adamawa emirate, eastern Nigeria. The town is served by the port of Jimeta (5.5 miles [9 km] north-northwest) on the Benue River, about 500 miles (800 km) above its confluence with the Niger, and by an airfield. Yola also has road connections with Numan, Jalingo, Ganye, Fufore, and Jimeta.
The name of the town is derived from yolde, a Fula (Fulani language) word signifying a settlement on rising ground. Yola was founded and made the political centre of Adamawa emirate in 1841, when Modibbo (“Learned One”) Adama, the Fulani founder of the emirate, established Yola as a base in his jihad against the indigenous Bata (Batta) and Vere (Verre) peoples.
Several European explorers visited the town, and in 1891 a Frenchman, Lieut. Louis Mizon, convinced the emir to recognize French territorial claims. By 1893 the British had extended their control over this part of the emirate, and shortly afterward the Royal Niger Company established a trading post in the town. After Emir Lauwal Zubeiru forced the company to evacuate the town in 1901, a British expedition was sent there from Lokoja and defeated the Fulani forces. Although German forces raided Yola from Kamerun (Cameroon) in 1914, the town was successfully defended by the British. It was merged by the Fulani administration with neighbouring Jimeta in 1935.
Much of Yola’s trade has now shifted to Jimeta, but both towns are sizable market centres. Especially during the latter part of the rainy season—from July to October, when the Benue River is navigable by vessels of 4-foot (1.2-metre) draft—merchants from Yola and Jimeta collect peanuts (groundnuts), cotton, hides, and skins for shipment to the Niger River delta ports of Burutu and Warri. Local trade is primarily in sorghum, millet, shea nuts, yams, rice, cowpeas, sugarcane, peanuts, fish, onions, peppers, indigo, cattle, goats, poultry, sheep, and cotton. Yola also has a substantial bakery.
The town has taken on growing functions in both administration and education and is the site of a federal university of technology (founded 1981). Yola also has a central mosque and a Roman Catholic church. In the mid-2010s, the town and surrounding area hosted refugees fleeing the Islamic militant group Boko Haram. Pop. (2016 est.) urban agglom., 400,000.