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Middle Belt
The Middle Belt (also spelt Middle-Belt or Central Nigeria) is a term used in human geography to designate a belt region stretching across central Nigeria longitudinally and forming a transition zone between Northern and Southern Nigeria. It is composed of the southern half of the defunct Northern Region of Nigeria, now comprising mostly the North Central geopolitical zone, and is characterised by its lack of a clear majority ethnic group. It is also the location of Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory. The eminence of manifold minority groups, to some degree, constitutes an ethno-linguistic barrier in the country and draws a separation between the principally Muslim North and the mainly Christian south. The region is a convergence of these cultural domains and maintains a tremendous degree of ethno-linguistic diversity. Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan, and Niger–Congo languages are all spoken, which are three of the primary African language families. In the 1920s, it was desc ...
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Plateau Languages
The forty or so Plateau languages are a tentative group of Benue–Congo languages spoken by 15 million people on the Jos Plateau, Southern Kaduna, Nasarawa State and in adjacent areas in central Nigeria. Berom and Eggon have the most speakers. Most Plateau languages are threatened and have around 2,000-10,000 speakers.Blench, Roger. 2007. Language families of the Nigerian Middle Belt and the historical implications of their distribution'. Presented to the Jos Linguistic Circle in Jos, Nigeria, July 25, 2007. Defining features of the Plateau family have only been published in manuscript form (Blench 2008). Many of the languages have highly elaborate phonology systems that make comparison with poor data difficult. Branches and locations Below is a list of major Plateau branches and their primary locations (centres of diversity) based on Blench (2019). The Plateau languages are highly typologically and lexically diverse. For instance, Roger Blench (2022) notes that Beromic ...
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Abuja
Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Planning Associates (IPA), a consortium of three American planning and architecture firms made up of Wallace, Roberts, McHarg & Todd (WRMT – a group of architects) as the lead, Archisystems International (a subsidiary of the Howard Hughes Corporation), and Planning Research Corporation. The Central Business District of Abuja was designed by Japanese architect Kenzo Tange. It replaced Lagos, the country's most populous city, as the capital on 12 December 1991. Abuja's geography is defined by Aso Rock, a monolith left by water erosion. The Presidential Complex, National Assembly, Supreme Court and much of the city extend to the south of the rock. Zuma Rock, a monolith, lies just north of the city on the expressway to Kaduna. At the 2006 ...
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Adara People
Adara people (also Eda and ''Kadara''), are an ethnic group in the Middle Belt who speak the Adara language, a north Plateau language of Nigeria. Dio Awemi Maisamari is the National president of Adara Development Association (ADA) with his assistant Luke Waziri assistant secretary of the association. Demographics Some estimates place the population of the Adara people at around 381,000. About 55% of the Adara are Christians while some also adhere to Islam. Location Adara people can be found in the sub-saharan African Countries and they are only found in Nigeria. They can be found in Benue and some parts of Kaduna state like Kajuru and Kachia local government areas. Communities along the area include Magunguna, Idazo, Ungwan Galadima, Ungwan Guza, Etissi, Ungwan Ma’aji, Ungwan Dantata, Ungwan Araha 1 & 2, Ungwan Goshi, Ungwan Shaban, Ungwan Jibo, Ungwan Maijama’a, Ungwan Sako, Ungwan Maidoki and Ungwan Masaba. Crises Adara people have suffered from ongoing communal con ...
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Duka Language
Hun-Saare or Duka is a Kainji language of Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o .... The eastern and western dialects are known as Hun (Ut-Hun) and Saare (Us-Saare), but speakers use ''Saare'' for both. References Further reading *Sociolinguistic survey of the Duka (Hun-Saare) people' Northwest Kainji languages Languages of Nigeria {{kainji-lang-stub ...
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Ham People
The Ham people are an ethnic group found in the southern part of Kaduna State in the northwestern region of Nigeria, predominantly in Jaba, Kachia and Kagarko Local Government Areas of southern Kaduna State, Nigeria. They speak the Hyam language and refer to themselves as Ham. They are known as the 'Jaba' in Hausa, but a recent study by a linguist who is a native of the area (John 2017) has definitely proven that the label 'Jaba' was derogatory and should be rejected. Some estimates place the Ham as numbering 400,000. History The Ham people are believed to have created the Nok culture after archaeological discoveries in the Ham village of Nok. Culture The Tuk-Ham festival is celebrated each year at Kwain (Popularly known as Kwoi by the Hausa), a town in the Local Government Area of Jaba. It is celebrated around the Easter season. Religion The majority of the Ham people are Christian, estimated at about 85%. About 75% of the population is defined by some sources as "Evang ...
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Gbagyi People
Gbagyi or Gbari (plural - Agbagyi/Agbari) is the name and the language of Gbagyi/Gbari ethnic group who are predominantly found in Central Nigeria, with a population of about 1 million people. Members of the ethnic group speak two dialects. While speakers of the dialects were loosely called Gwari by both the Hausa Fulani and Europeans during pre-colonial Nigeria they prefer to be known as Gbagyi/Gbari. They live in the Niger, the Federal Capital Territory - Abuja, and Kaduna State. They are also found in Nasarawa central Nigeria Area. Gbagyi/Gbari is one of the most populated ethnic and indigenous group in the middle belt and Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria and their major occupation is farming. Pottery is also an occupation practiced by the women. History Social-political structure Historically, the Gbagyi/Gbari practice a patrilineal kinship system. The lowest tier of authority is found in the extended family compound led by the oldest male. The compound consist of small ...
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Eggon People
Eggon (also Egon, Ero, or Mo Egon), erroneously referred to as Mada - formerly a Plateau language spoken in central Nigeria. It is one of the major language in Nasarawa State. Classification The exact classification of the Eggon language has been in dispute and it can be said that this issue remains unresolved. Eggon was first classified by Greenberg (1963) as a Plateau language in his group 5, together with Nungu and Yeskwa. In the revision prepared by Carl Hoffman published in Hansford et al. (1976) a Benue group was set up that combined Greenberg's Plateau 5 and 7 with Jukunoid. The new subgrouping classified Eggon together with Nungu, Ake and Jidda-Abu. This concept of a Benue grouping came from the lexicostatistical studies of Shimizu (1975) who argued against the unity of Greenberg's Plateau and proposed the Benue group. However, in 1983, Gerhardt published a convincing rebuttal of Shimizu's arguments. The latest version of classification of Plateau languages in Gerhard ...
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Ebira People
The Ebira also known as Egbira people are an ethno-linguistic group of central Nigeria. Most Ebira people are from Kogi State, Nasarawa State. Until the separation of Kogi State from Kwara State, Okene was seen as the administrative centre of the Ebira-speaking people in Kogi state ,located not far from the Niger- Benue confluence. Since the formation of the state, the Ebira Ta'o people are found in four local governments namely: Adavi, Ajaokuta, Okehi and Okene each with their administration headquarters. Ebira Koto are found in Kogi and KotonKarfe LGA, Bassa LGA, Lokoja in Kogi and Abaji LGA in the Federal Capital Territory, and Nasarawa in Toto LGA. Another, the Eganyi are found in Ajaokuta LGA. And the Etuno can be found in Igarra town of Akoko-Edo LGA, Edo state. Geography In recent history, Ebira people inhabit a territory south-west of the confluence of the Niger and Benue Rivers though some Ebira communities also reside north-east of the confluence, the territory surr ...
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Dikaka Language
Dikaka or Cham, is one of the Savanna languages of Middle Belt, Nigeria. It is also known as Dijim–Bwilim, after its two dialects, Dijim and Bwilim. A tonal language, it has a whistled register. It is spoken in Gombe and southwestern parts of Adamawa State of Nigeria. Dialects The two dialects are Dijim and Bwilim.Kleinewillinghöfer, Ulrich. 2014The languages of the Tula – Waja Group Adamawa Languages Project. *Dijim ijím spoken in and around Kindiyo (currently Cham town) *Bwilim wilím spoken in and around Mɔna (Mwona, Mwana) Another related dialect is spoken by former speakers of the Jalaa language Jalaa (autonym: ), also known as Cèntûm, Centúúm or Cen Tuum, is an extinct language of northeastern Nigeria (Loojaa settlement in Balanga Local Government Area, Gombe State), of uncertain origins, apparently a language isolate. The Jalabe ... in and around Loojaa settlement. Orthography It consists of 8 vowels and 17 consonants. :The vowels are: a, e, i, o, u ...
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Chamba People
The Chamba are a significant ethnic group in the north eastern Nigeria. The Chamba are located between present day Nigeria and Cameroon. The closest Chamba neighbours are the Mumuye, the Jukun and Kutep people. In Cameroon, the successors of Leko and chamba speakers are divided into several states: Bali Nyonga, Bali Kumbat, Bali-Gham, Bali-Gangsin, and Bali-Gashu. The are two ethnic groups in Ghana and Togo also called Chamba, but they are ethnically distinct. The Chamba are identified through their own language, beliefs, culture, and art. Language The Chamba people, also known as Samba, Tchamba, Tsamba, Daka and Chamba-Ndagan, are an African ethnic group found in the Gongola State of east-central Nigeria and neighboring parts of north Cameroon. They speak two distantly related languages: Chamba Leko, of the Leko–Nimbari languages, and Chamba Daka, of the Dakoid languages, both of which are Niger-Congo languages.;Richard Fardon, ''Raiders & refugees: trends in Chamba ...
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Berom People
The Berom (sometimes also spelt as Birom) is the largest autochthonous ethnic group in Plateau State, central Nigeria. Covering about four local government areas, which include Jos North, Jos South, Barkin Ladi (Gwol) and Riyom, Berom are also found in some southern Kaduna State local government areas like Fadan Karshe with Berom settlers tracing their origins to Za'ang (Zawan) a Berom district on the Jos Plateau. They emigrated during the British Colonial Government of Nigeria. The Berom speak the Berom language, which belongs to the Plateau branch of Benue–Congo, a subfamily of the large Niger–Congo language family. It is not related to the Hausa language (which belongs to the Afro-Asiatic family) or other Afro-Asiatic languages of Plateau State, which are Chadic languages. Culture The Berom people have a rich cultural heritage. They celebrate the Nzem Berom festival annually in March or April. Other festivals include Nzem Tou Chun (worongchun) and Wusal Berom. Its ...
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Bajju People
The Ba̠jju are an ethnic group found in the Middle Belt (Central) area of Nigeria. The word Ba̠jju is a short for "Ba̠nyet Jju" which simply means "Jju People" and is used to refer to the speakers of the Jju language found in the Ka̠jju, the homeland of the Jju people. They are found in the Southern part of Kaduna State, chiefly in Kachia, Zangon Kataf, Jama'a and in Kaduna South Local Government Areas. Ba̠jju people are also commonly known as "Kaje" which is a pejorative name used to refer to both the Jju people and Jju language by the larger Hausa people who could not pronounce the name Ka̠jju (meaning the land of the Ba̠jju people) well. The Ba̠jju people are predominantly farmers, hunters, blacksmiths and petty traders. Origin and history According to oral history, the origin of the Ba̠jju can be traced as far as Bauchi State where a group of people lived in hill caves and had watchers atop the hill to watch for enemies. These people were called 'mutanen duwats ...
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