11 months after, jostle for Tor Tiv begins
Activities have commenced within the traditional society of the Tiv nation as the Benue State Executive Council Wednesday directed the release of guidelines and timetable for installation of a new Tor Tiv.
The former paramount ruler of the Tiv people, Tor Tiv IV, Orchivirigh Dr. Alfred Akawe Torkula, died on November, 2015.
The council which was presided over by Governor Samuel Ortom stressed the need to fast track the appointment of the Tor Tiv and resolved that priority should be given to First and Third class chiefs who constitute the electoral college for the Tiv paramount ruler.
Daily Trust on Sunday reports that the late royal father died on Sunday, November 22 last year and the traditional mourning by all five ascender linkages of the Tiv speaking people of Benue State was observed before the deceased was interred at the palace coliseum in Gboko on Thursday, February 4, this year.
Ordinarily, the move to install the successor of the late traditional ruler should have started after the burial ceremony with the full participation of the various clans and kindred whose turn it is believed to produce the next ruler.
But, the governor explained that the delay in the emergence of a new Tor Tiv was informed by the need to amend some grey areas of the chieftaincy law of the state which he claimed was hurriedly passed by the immediate past state House of Assembly.
Ortom said it was necessary to amend the law which the previous administration “apparently intended” to favour certain individuals, stressing that a new chieftaincy law should be peopleoriented and would address fundamental issues affecting the traditional institution in the state.
The governor assured of his decision not to interfere with the choice of Tor Tiv and the other chiefs, and urged the people to pray so that God would anoint a paramount ruler for the Tiv nation who will lead with His fear and seek to unite rather than create divisions among the people.
However, a lot of intrigues and politics have been playing out on the sidelines by various interested groups and individuals in Tiv land since the stool became vacant as candidates from possibly qualified areas are lobbying to be favoured.
Usually, every male of Tiv descent is a potential prince going by the rotation of the royal stool between the two major clusters in Tiv land, which are Ipusu and Ichongo- the two sons of their progenitor.
The legendary kindred linkages are made up of five intermediate areas known as Jemgbagh, Sankera, Kwande, Jechira and Minda upon which political calculation, especially governorship decisions before now are rested.
These traditional policies have been followed since the establishment of the stool in 1946 when late Orchvirigh Makar Dzakpe became the first TorTiv to mount the throne. He was succeeded by late Orchivirigh Gondo Aluor who reigned between 1956 and 1978 while late Orchivirigh James Akperan took over as Tor-Tiv, III between 1979 and 1990. It was after his demise that the deceased Tor-Tiv, Dr. Alfred Akawe Torkula IV ascended the seat in 1991.
Since late Torkula who was the longest serving Tor Tiv so far hailed from Ichongo, traditionalists are now of the opinion that the stool should be zoned to the Ipusu group in line with the rotational principle of kingship in the land.
No doubt, this idea is also supported by the recently passed chieftaincy law which recognized Ichongo and Ipusu as the ruling houses of Tor Tiv.
Needless to say that several contenders have openly or secretly declared their intentions with some of them coming under shades of opinion moulders while others are already collecting money from friends in distant places to run for the vacant stool.
For instance, during a recent courtesy visit to the governor in Makurdi by the people of Sankera, a member of the House of Representatives, Emmanuel Udende, who led the group appealed to Ortom to ensure fairness in the selection process of the next monarch.
He said: “It is the turn of Ipusu of Sankera to produce the next Tor Tiv. We must as a matter of fact respect our tradition in the selection of the next Tiv ruler.”
Apparently worried by the endless list of those eyeing the throne and the alleged controversial nature of the Ipusus’ who hardly produce a consensus candidate except a thorough battle had been fought unlike the Ichongos’ where the governor hails from who have a history of easily resolving issues, Ortom therefore had to resort to divine intervention.
Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that the jostle for the throne led to the three day fasting and prayers which held in October, as the governor noted that the exercise was meant to “erase the era of using witchcraft to install traditional rulers”.
Ortom added that the essence of embarking on the spiritual exercise was to seek God’s will even as the state begins the process of selecting its first class traditional rulers across the three senatorial districts including the Tor Tiv.
He also explained that after the Assembly had passed the amended appointment of chiefs’ bill and he signed it into law, God told him to declare a three-day period of fasting and prayer for the process of the selection of chiefs to be transparent and peaceful.
The governor, while addressing the congregation which included representatives of chiefs from various parts of the state who converged on the Chapel of Grace in Government House, Makurdi, on the last day of the fast, said that the next Tor Tiv would hold the bible to take the oath of office instead of invoking Swem-the god of Tiv people, which is the traditional way of ascending the throne.
His insistence on use of the Bible generated controversy among the Tiv people in the state with social critics such a former Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, accusing the governor of trying to “Christianise” the Tiv culture and as such maybe annoying the ancestors.
The ex-police commissioner in his reaction to the governor’s remark, urged him to allow the people choose their next Tor Tiv, instead of “tactically interfering with tradition after promising not to do so”.
“Why will Ortom not allow the Tor-Tiv to abide by the Tiv culture and tradition? Why can’t the Tiv people display their own culture like the Ife people and Binis? Ortom may be annoying our ancestors. He must not contaminate our culture,” Tsav posited.
But, the governor maintained that as a Christian, he dedicated the state to God after a one month fasting and prayer period and that Almighty God had taken full control of the situation.
Ortom, who restated his administration’s resolve not to interfere with the choice of the people, noted that the selection process would start from bottom to top and explained that if those anchoring the selection process allow themselves to be used for selfish purposes, they would have themselves to blame.
Our correspondent gathered that before now, a new Tor Tiv was appointed three months after the death of the ruler.
On the list of the Ipusu generation eyeing the royal stool are; a former Ambassador to Argentina, Barrister Chivie Kaave, a former chairman of Kwande Local Government Area, Chief Terlumun Akputu, a former governorship aspirant, Chief Shima Ayateh, Barrister Bernard Ver from Ushongo, a Makurdi High Court judge, Justice Morris Ikpembese, a former vice chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Senator Daniel Saror, a lecturer at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Dr. Terzungwe Nyoor, Deacon Ortinidi Barka and Reverend Shangede Adzongo.
Others include second class traditional rulers such as the TerLogo, Chief Jimmy Meeme of Shitile descent and Ter Ushongo, Ambrose Iortyer of the Kwande bloc as well as the Security Adviser to the state government, Col. Edwin Jando.
The onus now lies on the Tiv Area Traditional Council (TATC) to produce an eligible Tiv male of Ipusu lineage who is not below the age of 40, with a good reputation and knowledgeable in Tiv culture and tradition as well as posses a minimum of secondary school certificate to be appointed as the Tor Tiv.