Tiv Issues According to Terhemba Osuji

The recent quit notice by Arewa youth to Igbos to leave the north due to abuses and Biafra Agitation serves as a wake up call to other regions to rise up and protests threats to their stability and sense of dignity.  Arewa and Igbo nationalism is not a tool restricted to these groups and can be adopted by other regions particularly the middle-belt that has not formed an independent political identity or ideology of its own and perspective about its predicament in Nigeria.   In my dreams, I see The middle-belt waking up one day and issuing a Quit notice to all Hausa and Fulani herdsmen to leave the region for aiding and abetting the slaughter of its people so that peace can finally return to the region and farmers can go back to work without fear and in peace.  Let these Fulani take their cows and religion which we don't want and return back to Futa Jalon, pigs are a close and tastier substitute to beef. Contrary to the popular narrative, the Igbo are not the problem...

There are still a few vexing issues from the successful coronation of Tor Tiv V that must be addressed before the details get forgotten with time. POLITICS 1. As stated in previous notes, while the Tiv nation owes a debt of gratitude to the Governor for the role he played in not only shepherding the process of amending the chieftaincy laws, selecting the kingmakers of the various clans and setting up the coronation committee and prearranging the repair of the Tor Tiv palace, many observers still feel that his prominence and leadership in seeing through these matters still gave him undue political power over the Tor Tiv and in retrospect is subverting the future power of the Tor Tiv. It did not help that many traditionalists were worried about the appearance that the Governor handed the staff of office to the Tor Tiv and many have argued that the staff should have been presented by an elder or by the IJIR TAMEN as a group to the TOR TIV instead of a politician however highly place...

Against strident advice from the last remaining traditionalists still left alive after nonpayment of salaries in Benue, Ochivirigh Ayatse swore the oath of office with the Bible no doubt buoyed on by the Governor who advocated that path even before Ayatse's selection. The cause of disagreement is that despite the Bible being the source of theology of Christianity it is still a divisive force for TIV people in practice. The dominant version of Christianity in Tiv land is the NKST church, distinct in many respects from the Catholic and Protestant church. According to most reports Ayatse is a devout Deeper Life another distinct sect. While the Tor Tiv has sworn the oath of office using the Bible and by it signaling that the Tiv nation is a Christian, 95% Christian as claimed by Ortom on channels tv, the other bone of contention is that he will revert back to his sect, Deeper Life, thereby abandoning the Catholic Church and it's off shoot NKST variation. This is troubling knowing h...

Please Read: Choosing the Next Tor Tiv Msugh ne chi Finally, the TIV nation heaved a collective sigh of relief when the Traditional Council congregated in Gboko and selected Prof. James Ayatse as Tor Tiv V on December 20, 2016. His coronation is scheduled for March 4 2017 at the J.S Tarka Stadium in Gboko and already grand plans Have been finalized for his investiture with the symbol of office, but there are many vexing issues that must be addressed in the aftermath of his selection and before his coronation: RULES AND REGULATIONS: 1.         His elevation to the stool exposed the lack of decisive leadership and responsiveness to crises situations as it took the Tiv nation thirteen months to select TOR TIV V after the death of the immediate past Tor Tiv who passed away on November 11, 2015. It also took a long time before Tor Tiv IV was finally laid to rest.  2.      ...

Msugh ne chi. It is troubling that a new TOR TIV has not been crowned since the demise of Orchivirigh Dr. Alfred Akawe Torkula IV back in November 2015. Kwagh chier mer yo! It remains a mystery to me why our great Tiv natien has been without a TOR TIV to lead us through these dark times when it took just a few weeks to select Orchivirigh James Akperan Orshi III after the death of Orchivirigh Gondo Aluor II in 1978.  Nevertheless, we are heartened and I congratulate everyone including Governor Ortom for joining hands in organizing the selection and appointment of first-class chiefs for Lobi, Gwer, Sankera, Jemgbagh, Jerchira, and Kwanda. By all accounts these new Tor’s are all men of proven integrity and character and it is my understanding that these appointments are some of the final steps in the process towards selecting the new TOR TIV who is scheduled to be announced on December 20. Notwithstanding this unusual delay in selecting our new TOR TIV, we still must use extreme cauti...

 They nomination of a certain veteran politician of Idoma extraction has brought to fore once again the competition for federal appointments and score keeping between the Tiv and Idoma. Presently some Tiv nationalists are concerned that three high profile appointments in this administration, the minister of agriculture, a former chief of defense intelligence and this recent nomination are all to Zone C, dominated by the Idoma. Some segments of the Tiv also lament this trend because the claim Zone C and many of its elected representatives are in the rival PDP and that by all accounts Zone C massively voted for the PDP and even re-elected the PDP’s David Mark over the APC candidate, Daniel Onjeh.  However, One gets they sense that they Tiv do not necessarily have an issue with this recent nomination, except they fleeting feeling that the Tiv are losing the race for federal appointments in this dispensation despite having an APC governor and despite reportedly giving huge support...

What has Benue benefitted from being a member of the Northern Governors forum or Arewa Consultative Forum. This grouping is a legacy from colonial rule that lumped and invariably subdued.the great middle belt and its people under the rule of the Caliphate and through which administrative officers descended from the core north to rule middle-belt provinces before the creation of States in 1966. How has membership of this group helped the middle-belt particularly Benue and Taraba who have over the years suffered many incursions and ravages of its fertile farmlands by marauding hordes of Fulani cattle herds men searching for arable grassland to feed their cattle. How has membership of this group benefitted Plateau state who have suffered horrendously from fights between the indigenes and settlers looking to annex their lands turning the once peaceful Jos into a mini Mogadishu. Finally, how has membership of this association helped the Middlebelt secure Aso Rock. The reverse appears to be ...