Bassa is a Local Government Area in

Kogi State Kogi State is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the west by the states of Ekiti and Kwara, to the north by the Federal Capital Territory, to the northeast by Nasarawa State, to the northwest by Niger State, to t ...

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 ...

. Its northern border is the Benue River and its western border is the

Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through ...

. Its headquarters are in the town of Oguma. It has an area of 1,925 km and a population of 139,993 at the 2006 census. As of 2016, the population grew to 188,600. Bassa-nge towns consist mainly of Gboloko, Ajigido, Kpata and Ecewu. The

postal code A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal a ...

of the area is 272. Bassa Local Government Kogi State, Bassa has three major tribes. The Bassa-komo, Bassa-nge and Egbira koto . The Bassa-Komo has the highest population followed by Bassa-nge and Egbira koto. The traditional title holder of The Bassa-Komos is the "AGUMA" of Bassa who is a 1st class chief, The "Etsu" of Bassa-Nge also a 1st class chief and the "OHIOGBA" of Mozum is the traditional chief of the Egbiras koto as the 3rd class chief. The traditional title holder of the

Bassa Nge The Bassa Nge are an ethnic group in Nigeria that traces its history back to 1805. They originally inhabited Gbara which was formerly the capital of the Nupe Kingdom. The Bassa Nge migrated from their homeland in Bida due to a dynastic feud in about ...

is the Etsu Bassa Nge. The Etsu of Bassa Nge has his royal throne dominant in Gboloko. Gboloko is the kingdom headquarter of the Bassa Nge Kingdom.

History of the Bassa-Nge

The Bassa-Nge tribe can be traced historically to the Nupe Tribe. History has it that the Bassa-Nge people were formerly one with the Nupe. They spoke the same language, having the same culture. During the Great

Fulani Jihad The Fulani War of 1804–1808, also known as the Fulani Jihad or Jihad of Usman dan Fodio, was a military conflict in present-day Nigeria and Cameroon. The war began when Usman Dan Fodiyo, a prominent Islamic scholar and teacher, was exiled ...

, while most of them accepted the Islamic faith, the rest of them, fled to the Middle Belt, towards South-West Nigeria to the present Kwara State Ilorin where they resided. Following the war conquest of the region, most of them accepted Islam while the remaining people fled across the Confluence river of Lokoja. Reaching the land across the great river, the elders said" babo sa umo ge" which when transliterated to Nupe language means " here is good and it is fine". It was later shortened to 'bassa-nge' which stand as the name of their variety of the Nupe language presently.

References

VICTOR AGBANYA Local Government Areas in Kogi State {{kogi-geo-stub