NYSC carnival 2023; the beauty of the Tiv tribe of Nigeria

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The Dance group with our platoon officer and our man O war instructor

The dancers
During my orientation exercise at Wamakko camp sokoto state, my platoon, platoon 4 2023 batch B stream 1 was assigned to represent the Tiv tribe of Nigeria on carnival day.
 I am from the Igbo tribe and I can't tell of any other tribe than mine until I met the Tiv tribe. They have very beautiful cultural heritage with their very unique colour of zebra white and black stripes called A'nger.
According to sources the black color signifies that the Tiv people have their roots as black people from Africa while the white signifies peace,loving and accommodating. Another way of viewing the black and white features of A’nger is in terms of the peaceful nature of the Tiv people in general.
 There are many types of Tiv traditional attires worn today. Each designed specifically for a different occasion but the colour remains the same.

WHO ARE THE TIV PEOPLE?

The Tiv came in contact with European culture during the colonial period. From late 1907 to early 1908, an expedition of the Southern Nigeria Regiment led by Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Trenchard's who came into contact with the Tiv. Trenchard brought gifts for the tribal chiefs. Subsequently, roads were built and trade links established between Europeans and the Tiv.

 The Tiv are a group of people who live in West Africa. They constitute approximately 3.5% of Nigeria's total population, and number over 6 million individuals throughout Nigeria and Cameroon.

 Tiv taditional religious thought is hinged on three basic concepts. These are Aondo(God), Tsav(Supernatural) and Akombo(emblem of mystical force) — all of which work together for stability, harmony and communal wellbeing.

 The Tiv are the 4th largest ethnic group in Nigeria. Most of it's native language speakers are found in Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau and Taraba States of Nigeria. A few Tiv are also found in Cross River and Adamawa States of Nigeria and in the southwestern Province of Cameroon.

There ancestry is traced to an ancient individual named Tiv, who had two sons; all Tiv consider themselves a member either of Ichongo (descendants of son Chongo) or of Ipusu (descendants of son pusu). Ichongo and Ipusu are each divided into several major branches, which in turn are divided into smaller branches which makes up the villages. The Tiv had always been extremely decentralized with no single ruler. Leadership was based on age, influence and affluence. When the British came to Nigeria they divided the Tiv into Clans, Kindreds, and Family Groups, native heads were appointed to these divisions as well. Their traditional ruler is popularly known as the Tor Tiv.
 The Tiv people are subsistence famers and traders who grows yams, millet and sorghum and raising small livestock and cattle.

Drama group
During the carnival in camp we are to present the beauty of the Tiv culture, starting from their food, lifestyle, dressing, dance, marriage etc and my platoon members did so well in our presentation that left us in 4th position out of 10.

We started by reading out the history of the Tiv tribe while on stage after which we presented a drama introducing our King (Tor Tiv) who was to officiate a Tiv marriage. ​The Tiv have one of the most unique forms of traditional marriages that you will find in Nigeria. Tiv marriage forms can be seen through four basic phases. The earliest form of marriage which we performed was call yamshe, marriage by exchange. A man who needed a wife located another man who had the same need. They then exchanged their sisters or daughters as wives.
The food was shared and we danced.

The most difficult part is in learning their dance step. They have this unique snake dance steps that distinct them from others, you have to twisting your body like a snake and bending to the ground, so as tall as I am I find it difficult bending so low but I was still determined to learn, so I wasn't removed from the dance.

It was a very beautiful presentation, very educative and entertaining. The applauds from the crowd gave us the conviction of a job well done. I felt proud and happy doing something worthwhile as a platoon Mama.
We gathered for a group photograph for the memories

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