OUR PEOPLE · OUR HERITAGE
The Tiv
The Tiv are one of Nigeria’s largest ethnic groups, estimated at around 8 million people. Most live on both sides of the River Benue in North-Central Nigeria — across fourteen local government areas of Benue State and in Nasarawa, Taraba, Plateau and Cross River States — with a smaller community in the Akwaya area of Cameroon.
Today, Tiv sons and daughters live and work across the world. This page celebrates who we are: our story, our royal institution, our society, our culture and our language.
ORIGINS
History & Origin
All Tiv trace their descent from one ancestor, Tiv, through his two sons — Ichongo and Ipusu. Every Tiv clan belongs to one of these two great branches.
Tradition holds that our forebears were a Bantu-related people who journeyed up from central and southern Africa — some accounts point to the Katanga region of today’s Congo — before settling at Swem, on the Nigeria–Cameroon border, in the early 1600s. Swem is honoured as our ancestral cradle.
From Swem the Tiv “came down” in successive waves through the 1600s and 1700s: south over the Obudu Plateau, east into present-day Taraba, and west into the Benue Valley, reaching the banks of the Benue and Katsina-Ala rivers.
With no ancient script, our history was kept orally. The Tiv language was first written down by Sigismund Koelle in 1854, and Akiga Sai later recorded Tiv history in his own words.
ROYALTY
The Tor Tiv
Traditionally the Tiv had no kings. Each clan or kindred was guided by its eldest man, the orya, whose authority rested on age, wisdom and standing. Elders settled disputes and led gatherings.
Under colonial rule the British worked through councils of elders (Ijir Tamen). In the 1940s the Tiv pressed for a paramount ruler of their own, and the office of the Tor Tiv — “King of the Tiv” — was created, with its seat in Gboko, Benue State. The kingship alternates between the Ichongo and Ipusu houses, and the Tor Tiv and senior elders wear robes of black-and-white A’nger cloth.
Tor Tiv I — Makir Zakpe
Tor Tiv II — Gondo Aluor
Tor Tiv III — James Akperan Orshi
Tor Tiv IV — Alfred Akawe Torkula
Tor Tiv V — Prof. James Ortese Iorzua Ayatse (current)
CULTURE
Culture & Heritage
A’nger, our black-and-white striped cloth, is the emblem of Tiv identity. One story says it recalls the zebras our ancestors once hunted. Today it is tailored into robes for royalty, weddings and celebrations — and its colours are TYD’s colours too.
Kwagh-hir puppet and masquerade theatre tells stories through carved figures and masked performers who keep their identities hidden until the end, while the Swange dance and music fill our gatherings.
Our instruments speak: the agbande drums played by young men at festivals, the ilyu used to send messages and still heard at weddings, the heavy indyer that announces grave news, the kakaki royal trumpet and the violin-like ageda.
Festivals include the New Yam Festival (Iniongo i iyou mbi her), the Kwagh-Hir Puppet Festival, the Akata fishing festival and Tiv Day. Above all we value unity — TYD’s motto is Ayatutu Ka Uno – Ka Se (Unity is Strength).
SOCIETY
Society & Beliefs
Tiv society is built on descent through the male line. Lineages nest into ever-larger branches — from the small family group (ipaven) up to the great houses of Ichongo and Ipusu — and kin live close together in home communities called tar.
This “segmentary lineage” system made the Tiv a classic example in anthropology, studied in the 1950s by Paul and Laura Bohannan. Age grades, cooperative work groups and lifelong friendships bind people across lineages.
Marriage unites whole families, not just two people. The old exchange marriage (yamshe) was abolished in 1927 and replaced by bride-price marriage (kwase-kemen), which is common today.
Most Tiv today are Christian: Dutch Reformed missionaries arrived at Sai in Katsina-Ala in 1911, giving rise to the NKST church. Traditional belief centres on akombo — forces entrusted to people by the Creator — and respect for elders remains strong.
LANGUAGE & FOOD
Language & Food
Our language, Tiv, belongs to the Benue–Congo branch of the Niger–Congo family and is spoken by millions in Nigeria and Cameroon. Its alphabet has 24 letters — 5 vowels and 19 consonants — and tone marks guide pronunciation.
We are a farming people, and Benue is proudly called the “Food Basket of the Nation”. Our fields yield yams (iyou), cassava (alogo), cocoyam (mondu), beans (alev), maize (kyuleke) and sesame — the “beni-seed” named after the Benue Valley.
At the table you will find pounded yam (ruam kumen) with soups such as ichegh (egusi), ive and atyever; yam pottage (pete); the fermented pudding ibyer; bean cakes (kuese) and dried sweet potato (asondo) — washed down with palm wine (tyo) or burukutu.
Sources: Wikipedia, Encyclopædia Britannica, the Tiv Heritage Archive and I Am Benue.