Tiv is an ethno-linguistic group or nation in West Africa. They number approximately 6 million individuals in Nigeria and Cameroon. In Nigeria, most speakers are indigenous to Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau and Taraba. With millions of speakers also in Cross-River State, Kaduna, Adamawa, Lagos, Oyo and Abuja Federal Capital Territory. They depend on agricultural produce for commerce and life.

History

The Tiv came into contact with European culture during the colonial period. During November 1907 to spring 1908, an expedition of the Southern Nigeria Regiment led by Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Trenchard's 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.[4] But before construction of roads began, a missionary named Mary Slessor went throughout the region seeing to the people's needs.

The geographical position of the Tiv, according to Laura Bohannan and Paul J. Bohannan (1969: 9) and Rubingh (1969: 58), is between 6° 30' and 8° 10' north latitude and 8° and 10° east longitude. The Tiv shares borders with the chamba and the Jukun of Taraba State in the north-east; Alago in the north, with the Yala, Gakem and Obudu of Cross River State in the South; and the Idoma and Igede of Benue State to the west. There is also an international border between Nigeria and Republic of Cameroon that passes within the tiv territory. They are among the majority ethnic groups in Nigeria, ranking as the fourth most populous ethnic group.

There are numerous submissions about the origin of Tiv people. We are, however, in agreement with Torkula (2006: 1) that: “Although different views are held about the Tiv origin, the version that commands popularity and currency is that which traces their origin to the Bantu people who once inhabited the central african kingdoms, in the Shaba area of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo.” The popularity and currency of this version is due to the assorted pieces of evidence supporting it. One of such piece of evidence is linguistic. R. C. Abraham (1934: 6–7), for instance, compiled a list of 67 Tiv words and juxtaposed them with the words of bantu nyaza showing a striking similarity in both phonetics and semantics. Based on that, Abraham (1934: 5) concluded that the Tiv were "Bantu people" and subsequently that they came from the Congo. Another linguistic piece of evidence has to do with the present writer’s family name of Tsenôngu which is Tiv and which when ended with an “o” (as done by many Tivs without any semantic harm) is the name of a town of 300 000 people in the present Democratic Republic of the Congo
. Such pieces of linguistic evidence testify to the fact that the Tiv actually migrated from the Congo; from there they passed through several places before settling in the Benue Trough, their present location. Also, most tivs born in the early 20th century had a special dance routine their parents brought from their place of origin which was called the Congo dance. The main occupation of the Tiv is subsistence farming. They regard yam farming as their birthright and commit themselves to its work with religious dedication and are in most states of Nigeria farming.

As for their social organization, traditional Tiv society was completely egalitarian. There was no central authority. They had no king so every man was ruler of his own house. They lived in compounds administered by the oldest man. Many compounds formed clans and districts that were variously divided and sub-divided. The elders of the various clans (upyaven) and districts (ityar) met and discussed issues at those levels and arrived at democratic decisions that bound their sections. If an issue involved the whole ethnic group, the elders of the various sections and districts met and took a decision. This situation obtained until 1946 when the colonialists established a Tiv central authority by creating the office of a paramount ruler. The paramount ruler (Tor Tiv) lives and administers the people in Gboko, their headquarters town, which was built in 1932. Ascendancy to the Tor Tiv throne is not hereditary.

Leo Frobenius, the German traveller, for example, declared them (the Tiv people) as the “best storytellers in Africa” (Keil 1979: 20). Laura Bohannan too has, under the pseudonym of Elenore Smith Bowen, often been referred deservedly to for her admiring description of a Tiv tale-telling session in her autobiographical novel, Return to Laughter. Commenting on Bohannan’s book, Frances Harding (1992: 156) has said that: “So important does Bohannan consider storytelling in Tiv life that not only is its performance the occasion of the laughter which gives the novel its title, but it is recognized as a healing, binding force in the community.” Indeed, Keil (1979: 57) was right in his submission that “qualitatively, all visitors to Tivland agree that storytelling can be a very dramatic event.” But it is not just in storytelling that members of the ethnic group have made their artistic mark; they are known for their dance craft, poetic creativity and general aesthetic profundity. To provide just one example relating to their dance repertoire, in 1973 the ethnic group alone accounted for fifty-four of the one hundred and eighty-eight dances performed at the “Festival of 200 Dances of the Benue-Plateau State” held in Jos, Nigeria. The then Benue-Plateau State comprised more than thirty ethnic nationalities. This is statistical testimony to the dancing skills in Tivland. Indeed, the ethnic group is generally artistically active. And one of the avenues where this artistic activity exhibits itself is in nuptial poetry.