•The earliest occupation of what
is now North-Central Nigeria must have been that of Pleistocene foragers, and perhaps the only
trace of these is the Jalaa
•Nilo-Saharan speakers, probably
fishing people, to judge by their harpoon points, expanded across the region ca. 10-8000
years ago
•This was followed by the
Gur-Adamawa speakers, stretching from Burkina Faso to Chad, perhaps 6-8000 years ago
•It is likely the East Benue-Congo
speakers then spread northwards, disrupting the Gur-Adamawa chain
• Probably then the Nupoid languages expanded northwards and broke
apart the two branches of Kainji