Sardauna (formerly Mambilla) Local Government Area is located in the extreme southeast of

Taraba State Taraba is a States of Nigeria, state in north-eastern Nigeria, named after the Taraba River, which traverses the southern part of the state. It is known as "Nature's Gift to the Nation". Its capital is Jalingo. The state's main Demographics ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. It is synonymous with the

Mambilla Plateau The Mambilla Plateau is a plateau in the Taraba State of Nigeria. The Mambilla Plateau has an average elevation of about above sea level, making it the highest plateau in Nigeria. Some of its villages are situated on hills that are at least abov ...

, which is dotted by many towns and villages. The capital of the

LGA LaGuardia Airport ( ) – colloquially known as LaGuardia or simply LGA – is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City, situated on the northwestern shore of Long Island, bordering Flushing Bay. Covering , the facility wa ...

is Gembu, an ancient Mambilla settlement whose name is a corruption of "Gelmvu", the name of an ancient monarch of the area. Other ethnic groups from the mainstream Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroon Republic such as

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also ...

, Kanuri, Igbo, Banso, Kambu, Fulani, etc can be found in the commercial centres as business communities.

Climate

In contrast to the rather steamy and humid climate of most other parts of southeastern Nigeria, the climate in this part of the country (owing to its altitude) is relatively cool; most days in the dry season the temperature will reach 20-23 C and drop to 16-18 C at night, whilst in the wet season these averages fall a couple of degrees.

Languages

Sardauna LGA (the Nambilla Plateau) is highly linguistically diverse, with about two dozen distinct local dialects and languages (mostly Mambilla languages, other isolated sprinkling of other Bantoid languages, and

Jukunoid languages The Jukunoid languages are a branch of the Benue-Congo languages spoken by the Jukun people (West Africa), Jukun and related peoples of Nigeria and Cameroon. They are distributed mostly throughout Taraba State, Nigeria and surrounding regions. ...

.Languages of Nigeria
(Ethnologue 22nd edition) * Mambilla language *

Ambo language The Ovambo () language is a dialect cluster spoken by the Ovambo people in southern Angola and northern Namibia, of which the written standards are Kwanyama and Ndonga. The native name for the language is ''Oshiwambo'' (also written ''Oshi ...

, a bantoid language, actually a

Tivoid language The Tivoid languages are a branch of the Southern Bantoid languages spoken in parts of Nigeria and Cameroon. The subfamily takes its name after Tiv, the most spoken language in the group. The majority are threatened with extinction. The largest ...

Áncá language Manta (Anta, Banta) is a Grassfields language of Cameroon. Áncá of Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the ...

Batu language Batu is a Tivoid language of Nigeria. Dialects are Amanda-Afi, Kamino. Angwe was once assumed, but turns out to be a dialect of the divergent Buru language Buru or Buruese (Buru: ) is a Malayo-Polynesian language of the Central Maluku branch ...

a bantoid language, actually a

Buru language Buru or Buruese (Buru: ) is a Malayo-Polynesian language of the Central Maluku branch. In 1991 it was spoken by approximately 45,000 Buru people who live on the Indonesian island of Buru (). It is also preserved in the Buru communities on Amb ...

of Kurmi LGA. * Etkywan language * Fum language *

Tiv language Tiv is a Tivoid language spoken in some states in North Central Nigeria, with some speakers in Cameroon. It had over 5.2 million speakers in 2024. The largest population of Tiv speakers are found in Benue state in Nigeria. The language is also ...

Kpan language Kpan is a Jukunoid language of Taraba State, Nigeria. There are several dialects. ''Ethnologue'' (22nd ed.) lists Gayan, Gindin Dutse, Kato Bagha, Likam, Suntai, and Wukari villages, which are distributed in Sardauna, Takum, and Wukari Wuka ...

Lamnso’ language Nso (''Lamnso'', ''Lamnsɔ’'') is the Grassfields language of the Nso people of western Cameroon. A few may remain in Nigeria. It has ten major noun classes. The ISO 639-3 code is lns. Nso is spoken by over 100,000 people. Phonology Con ...

, a Western Grassfields of Cameroon language around Kumbo, with businessmen in Mambilla; *

Limbum language Limbum is a Grassfields language of Cameroon, with a small number of speakers in Nigeria. It is used as a trade language by some, but is primarily the mother tongue of the Wimbum people, who live in Donga-Mantung division of the Northwest Region ...

, a Western Grassfields of Cameroon language, at Ndu, with businessmen in Mambilla; *

Fula language Fula ( ),Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student's Handbook'', Edinburgh also known as Fulani ( ) or Fulah (, , ; Adlam script, Adlam: , , ; Ajami script, Ajami: , , ), is a Senegambian languages, Senegambian language spoken by arou ...

, a West Atlantic language from Qanar, Mauritania and Senegambia, whose presence in Mambilla are in the immediate past traceable to cattle movements from Ngaundere (Cameroon), Banyo (Cameroon), Bavenda Province (Cameroon), and from some parts of Nigeria. *

Tigon Mbembe language Mbembe, or more specifically Tigon Mbembe, is a Jukunoid language of Cameroon and Nigeria. Writing system The alphabet is based on the General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages The General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages is an orthography, orth ...

of Kurmi. * Mbungnu or Mbunip dialect of Mambilla language *

Mvanip Dialect of Mambilla language Mvanip (Mvano), or Magu, is a minor Mambiloid language of Nigeria. Despite the small number of speakers, language use is vigorous. ''Ethnologue'' classifies Mvanip as threatened. General information As of 1964, Mvanip had 800 speakers in and a ...

of Mvanu at Magu area: *

Ndoola language Ndoola (Ndoro) or Njoyamɛ in Cameroon is a Bantoid language of Nigeria, with several thousand speakers in Cameroon. It is either among or related to the Mambiloid languages The twelve Mambiloid languages are languages spoken by the Mambila ...

mainly in Kurmi. *

Ndunda language Ndunda is a minor Mambiloid language of Nigeria. It was discovered by Roger Blench Roger Marsh Blench (born August 1, 1953) is a British linguist, ethnomusicologist and development anthropologist. He has an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the Universit ...

, a Mambilla Dialect. * Somyev language, a Mambilla dialect *

Viti language Viti (Biti) or Vötö (Bötö), also known as Nde-Gbite, is a Narrow Grassfields language of Nigeria, spoken in the village of Antere in Taraba State Taraba is a States of Nigeria, state in north-eastern Nigeria, named after the Taraba Ri ...

Vute language Vute is a Mambiloid language of Cameroon and Gabon, with a thousand speakers in Nigeria. The orthography was standardized on March 9, 1979. Noted dialect clusters are eastern, central, and Doume. Phonology Consonants Consonants in Vute are ...

(another Mambilloid language, not traditionally spoken on Mambilla Plateau) *

Yamba language Yamba is a Grassfields language of the Northwest region of southern Cameroon, with a small number of speakers in Eastern Nigeria The Eastern Region was an political division, administrative region in Nigeria, dating back originally from the di ...

, another Western Grassfields of Cameroon language extending from Donga-Mantung in Cameroon to the southern fringe of the Mambilla Plateau.

References

Local Government Areas in Taraba State {{Taraba-geo-stub