THE MIGRATION OF TIV PEOPLE

THE MIGRATION OF TIV PEOPLE INTO THE BENUE VALLEY

            The understanding of Tiv migration to their present location is based on oral traditions. To this, various scholars documented these migration stories for easier understanding as observed by Awai, G.K. According to (Rubingh 1969:62), the Tiv all agree that their original home was to the southeast and inside Cameroon. The Tiv are uncertain as to the time when they began their migration northward, but it was probably about eleven generations ago, this according to Rubingh. He cites Downes that, the really general migration into the present tribal area began around 1800, and Tiv were present south of the Benue River in large numbers by 1850. The various Clans shifted position until 1890 when the boundaries were rather well-established and permanent settlement undertaken. Much lore of the Tiv stems from this stupendous sojourn northward, though the point of departure is itself no longer known. Rubingh (1969: 63), further cites R. Abraham and Downes thus; They feel that Tiv began to move down from the Sonkwala Hills where they were living at that time. These hills are located a few miles Southeast of the town Obudu…East and Akiga locate Swem Hill (which is the Tiv name for the hill so revered in their history) about thirty-five miles further Southeast from Sonkwalla and they feel that the Tiv moved from here on to Ibenda Hill, the next stage on their journey.

            In a recent study conducted by Akpenpuun Dzurgba (2007: 28) about Tiv nation, he identified Swem as the place where the Tiv migrated from to their present location in Benue State. Dzurgba said a province in Cameroon is an equivalent of a state such as Benue State of Nigeria. Of the three Cameroonian sub-divisions, Akwaya sub-division is probably the land to which the Tiv refer to as Swem which they claim is their ancestral home land. Akwaya sub-division or Akwaya Local Government is located in the South-west province or Southwest State in Southern Cameroon. Akwaya sub-division has been revealed and identified by the study as the ancestral homeland of the Tiv. Swem has also been revealed and identified. Swem exists in Akwaya sub-division, or Akwaya Local Government Area. In Akwaya, there are a range of mountains and one of them is the highest of them all. This highest mountain is called Swem even by the people of Akwaya. The study has therefore, confirmed the Tiv’s claim that they had once lived as a single community on a mountain called Swem. The location of Swem that had been vaguely indicated as lying to the South-east of Tivland has been revealed and identified as Akwaya sub-division in the South-west province in South-Western Cameroon. Swem is a real mountain which is located in Akwaya sub-division in South-west province in South-Western Cameroon. Dzurgba further stated that Swem was flat at the top and crops were grown on it. Because Swem was a long mountain range with a flat top, the Tiv, as a single community, would settle on top of Swem for security reasons. During the period of migration or human movements worldwide, war was the only means of diplomacy or negotiation. Territorial integrity and security of life and property depended largely on military victory. These were probably the reasons why the Tiv settled on the long flat top of Swem. Dzurgba explains further that when the population grew and became too large for the Swem settlement, the Tiv had to move down to look for an agrarian land, but that was not immediately available in the Swem vicinity. That, in addition, other racial groups had already settled around the mountain ranges in Akwaya in particular and South-west Cameroon in general. It was on this note that, the Tiv followed River Katsina-Ala from Cameroon down to the Benue valley where they found enough agrarian land for themselves (Akpenpuun Dzurgba 2007: 29). To this, the Tiv finally migrated from Swem in Akwaya sub-division of Cameroon and finally settled in the Benue Valley of Central Nigeria. Scholars of Tiv nation documented that in course of Tiv migration to their present place of stay, they came in contact with different ethnic tribes who already occupied the present Benue Valley. Jukun, Etulo, Abakwa, Chamba, Idoma, Igede, Udam, Ugee and other tribes. But because of Tiv military strength, they overcame these tribes and sent them away and subsequently occupied the present Benue Valley.