Wukari Federation
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name = Wukari Federation
|settlement_type = Traditional state
|image_skyline =
|imagesize =
|image_caption =
|pushpin_map = Nigeria
|pushpin_label_position =
|pushpin_mapsize=250
|pushpin_map_caption = Location in Nigeria
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = {{flag|Nigeria}}
|subdivision_type1 = State
|subdivision_name1 = Taraba State
|subdivision_type2 =
|subdivision_name2 =
|subdivision_type3 =
|subdivision_name3 =
|government_footnotes =
|government_type =
|leader_title = Aku Uka
|leader_name = Shekarau Angyu Masa-Ibi Kuvyon II
|established_title =
|established_date =
|coordinates = {{coord|7|51|N|9|47|E|type:adm2nd_region:NG|display=inline,title}}
}}
The Wukari Federation is a traditional state in Nigeria, a successor to the Kwararafa state of the Jukun people. The state is based in the town of Wukari in Taraba State, in the south of the Benue River basin. The ruler takes the title "Aku Uka".{{Cite book|date=2007-12-01|title=Who's Who|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u4000628|chapter=Manning, Maurice, (Born 14 June 1943), Chancellor, National University of Ireland, since 2009; Adjunct Professor of Politics, School of Politics and International Relations, University College, Dublin, since 2007}}
Early history
{{
Infobox country
|conventional_long_name = Wukari Federation
|common_name = Wukari Federation
|era = Middle Ages
|year_start = c. 1840
|year_end = c. 1900
|status = Federation
|p1 = Kwararafa
|s1 = Southern Nigeria Protectorate
|image_map = Kwararafa.jpeg
|capital = Wukari
|common_languages = Jukun Takum language
}}
The Jukun were established in Wukari as early as the 17th century.{{cite web
|url=http://www.jpanafrican.com/docs/vol2no9/2.9_Indigeneship_and_Citizenship_in_Nigeria.pdf
|title=Indigeneship and Citizenship in Nigeria: Myth and Reality
|author=Abimbola O Adesoji and Akin Alao
|publisher=Obafemi Awolowo University
|accessdate=2010-10-06}}
The town was one of the southern centers on a trading route that connected via Bauchi to the northern states of Katsina, Kano and Bornu.
Large caravans would bring goods transported from north of the Sahara, exchanging them for slaves, salt and ivory.{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FYFxE8-uSa4C&pg=PA29
|page=29
|title=Studies in Southern Nigerian history
|author=Boniface I. Obichere
|publisher=Routledge
|year=1982
|isbn=0-7146-3106-X
|accessdate=2010-10-06}}
It is debatable whether the Jukun were ever the military leaders of the broader Kwararafa state, as is sometimes claimed, or whether the Aku's role was more a symbolic or ritual leadership of the different peoples of the Benue river basin.
Clearly the Aku Uka of Wukari had considerable influence. For example, in 1780 the leader of a group of migrants from Bornu felt it necessary to apply to the Aku Uka for endorsement and recognition of his rule over their new settlement at Lafia, to the northwest. The Aku Uka agreed and gave him the title of Sarkin Lafia Bare-Bari.{{cite web
|url=http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/living/2010/feb/21/Great-cities-21-02-2010.htm
|title=Lafia: Unspoiled, very, very virgin
|author=ENYERIBE EJIOGU
|date=February 21, 2010
|work=Daily Sun
|accessdate=2010-10-06}}
File:Benuerivermap.png and Benue rivers, west of the Donga and south of the Benue.]]
The Aku Uka of Wukari became the regional power in the 1840s after the once-powerful Kwararafa state had been destroyed during the Fulani jihad (1804–1810) and its aftermath.
The consolidation of Wukari as an independent state may have been given impetus by pressure from the Chamba people, who were pushing westward down the Benue at that time.{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ez58Dwpa8JcC&dq=wukari+history&pg=PA70
|page=70ff
|title=Nigerian history, politics and affairs: the collected essays of Adiele Afigbo
|author=Adiele Eberechukwu Afigbo, Toyin Falola
|publisher=Africa World Press
|year=2005
|isbn=1-59221-324-3}}
When the British incorporated the state into the protectorate of Nigeria around 1900, it was multi-ethnic, including Tiv and Moslem Hausa-Fulani people as well as the original Jukun.
The British delegated much authority to traditional rulers in the Northern Region.
In 1958 the Aku Uka of Wukari was one of four such rulers serving as a minister without portfolio in the Executive Council of the region, the others being the Sultan of Sokoto, Emir of Katsina and Emir of Kano.{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oi0aVR4YkmUC&pg=PA443
|page=443
|title=Nigerian Political Parties: Power in an Emergent African Nation
|author=Richard L. Sklar
|publisher=Africa World Press
|year=2004
|isbn=1-59221-209-3
|accessdate=2010-10-06}}
Religion
Traditional Jukun beliefs and rituals are complex, with unique elements. For example, they thought that in their migration from Yemen to Kwararafa around 596 AD they were assisted by giant crocodiles, who were therefore protected, and still have a shrine in the Marmara pond at Wukari.{{cite web
|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200906240052.html
|title=How Giant Crocodiles Guided Jukun to Kwararafa
|work=Daily Trust
|author=Fidelis Mac-Leva
|date=24 June 2009
|accessdate=2010-10-07}}
The Jukun religion includes belief in the divine right of kingship, with the Aku Uka being considered son of a god. Of several gods, the sun god is paramount. The religion includes belief in communicating with the souls of the dead.{{cite journal
|jstor=30249506
|title=The Aku-Ahwa and Aku-Maga Post-Burial Rites of the Jukun Peoples of Northern Nigeria
|author=Michael Lane
|journal=African Music
|date=1959
|publisher=International Library of African Music
|volume=2
|issue=2
|pages=29–32|doi=10.21504/amj.v2i2.585
|doi-access=free
}}
These similarities to Egyptian beliefs have led some anthropologists to speculate that the Jukun originally came from Sudan.
The Kuteb people, who speak a related language and live just to the south of the Jukun, have a tradition that they migrated from Egypt about a thousand years ago, but their religion is very different.{{cite web
|url=http://kuteb.tripod.com/biography.html
|title=he Kuteb People
|author=William Ahmed Gangum
|accessdate=2010-10-07}}
The Wukari people adhered to their traditional religion for many years after loss of independence, and some still practice it. The first Christian missionaries arrived in 1905, and the first mission station was opened on 29 May 1906. In 1914 one of the missionaries at the station, Rev. W. Maxwell, published the St. Mark's gospel in the Jukun dialect of Wukari Wapan. Progress was slow, with a small congregation and no indigenous pastors as late as the 1950s.{{cite web
|url=http://www.ourchurch.com/view/?pageID=255721
|title=BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH OF NIGERIA - RCC WUKARI (2005)
|publisher=RCC Wukari
|accessdate=2010-10-07}}
Although many of the Jukun are now Christian, some are animist and some are Muslim.{{cite web
|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/15/2953948.htm
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101015125717/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/15/2953948.htm
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=October 15, 2010
|work=ABC News
|title=Four dead after religious riots in Nigeria
|date=July 15, 2010}}{{Cite news
|title=Four Nigerian pilgrims abscond in Israel
|date=22 December 2009
|work=Nigerian Compass
}}
The Aku Uka, Shekarau Angyu Masa Ibi is a Christian and worships in the Chapel established in the Palace by The Christian Reformed Church of Nigeria (CRCN).{{Cite journal|last=Arthur|first=Paul|date=October 1996|title=Time, Territory, Tradition and the Anglo‐Irish 'Peace' Process|journal=Government and Opposition|volume=31|issue=4|pages=426–440|doi=10.1111/j.1477-7053.1996.tb01199.x|issn=0017-257X}}
Recent times
Wukari is multi-ethnic. While the Jukun consider that it is their traditional homeland, other ethnic groups including the Tiv and Hausa have been present for over 200 years.{{cite web
|url=http://www.thisdayonline.com/archive/2001/11/16/20011116pol05.html
|title=End to Tiv Crisis Not in Sight - Sangari
|author=Chukwudi Nwabuko
|date=2001-11-16
|work=ThisDay
|accessdate=2010-10-06}}
In the 1910s, the colonial authorities encouraged immigration of Tivs to the region, although they were considered an "inferior group" with no history of central state administration, and were placed under the authority of the Jukun Aku Uka.
Continued Tiv expansion into Wukari was due in part to population pressure, and in part to unsustainable slash-and-burn farming methods.{{cite web
|url=http://www3.qeh.ox.ac.uk/pdf/qehwp/qehwps09.pdf
|title=Transformation of Minority Identities in Post-Colonial Nigeria.
|author=Abdul Raufu Mustapha
|publisher=Oxford University
|accessdate=2010-10-06}}
In the 19th century, the Tiv allied with the Jukun to fight the Hausa/Fulani.{{cite web
|url=http://www.thisdayonline.com/archive/2001/11/05/20011105fea02.html
|title=Tiv, Jukun: A Catalogue of Crises
|author=Andrew Ahiante
|work=ThisDay
|date=2001-11-08
|accessdate=2010-10-06}}
More recently, the Tiv and the Hausa have at times allied against the Jukun. However, under the First Republic (1963–1966), the Jukun and Hausa supported the Northern People's Congress, while the Tiv supported the rival United Middle Belt Congress, often leading to violent conflict.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}
During the Second Republic (1979–1983) both the Tiv and the Jukun supported the National Party of Nigeria.{{cite web
|url=http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/november/nigeria1990.htm
|title=Jukun-Tiv Conflict in Nigeria 1990-1992
|work=Armed Conflict Events Database
|date= December 16, 2000
|accessdate=2010-10-06}}
There were clashes in 1990 and 1991 related to whether Wukari should become part of Tiv-dominated Benue State or Jukun-majority Taraba State.
In June 1992, a Jukun member of the Taraba state assembly, the only woman, was assassinated.
The Jukun accused the Tiv of the murder, and further violence broke out.
During this period, as many as 5,000 people may have been killed and many more forced to move.
In 2001 and 2002 there were again clashes between the Jukun, Tiv, Kuteb and Fulani people of the Federation.
In August 2010 there was further fighting, this time along religious rather than ethnic lines.
Christians disputed the construction of a mosque at the Wukari Police divisional headquarters, and started rioting a few days before a planned visit of the Moslem Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar III.{{cite web
|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201008200411.html
|title=Sultan And Wukari Crisis
|work=Daily Trust
|author=Sa'ad Abubakar Zongre
|date=19 August 2010
|accessdate=2010-10-06}}
Lives were lost and property destroyed.{{cite web
|url=http://thenationonlineng.net/web3/newsextra/8242.html
|title=Wukari crisis condemned
|date=August 4, 2010
|work=The Nation
|accessdate=2010-10-06}}{{dead link|date=November 2014 |fix-attempted=yes}}
The Aku Uka of Wukari and chairman of the Taraba State Traditional Council, Dr. Shakaru Angyu, had reportedly warned the Area Commander against the building of the mosque, which was destroyed during the disturbances.{{cite web
|url=http://www.transparencyng.com/index.php/articles/103/phocadownload/phocadownload/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1536:police-fuels-religious-crisis-in-taraba-6-feared-dead&catid=88:society&Itemid=151
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717092522/http://www.transparencyng.com/index.php/articles/103/phocadownload/phocadownload/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1536:police-fuels-religious-crisis-in-taraba-6-feared-dead&catid=88:society&Itemid=151
|url-status=usurped
|archive-date=July 17, 2011
|title=Police fuels religious crisis in Taraba, 6 feared dead
|date=14 July 2010
|work=Nigerian Compass
|accessdate=2010-10-06}}
On a more positive note, Wukari traditions such as the rituals of the crocodile shrine are of interest to tourists.
The annual Nwonyo Fishing Festival, which has its origins in 1826, includes boat and canoe racing, diving, swimming, and traditional dancing, and there is a prize for the person who catches the heaviest fish.{{cite web
|url=http://www.abc-of-fishing.net/news/200805/taraba-state-celebrates-nwonyo-fishing-festival.asp
|work=ABC of Fishing
|title=Taraba State Celebrates Nwonyo Fishing Festival
|date=27 May 2008
|author=Genevieve Generoso
|accessdate=2010-10-06}}
The competition takes place at the Nwonyo lake, said to have been discovered in 1816 by the founder of Ibi, Buba Wurbo, and the first public festival was held during the reign of Abgumanu II (1903–1915).{{cite web
|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201004300205.html
|title=Taraba Celebrates Yet Another Nwonyo Fishing Festival
|work=Vanguard
|date=29 April 2010
|accessdate=2010-10-06}}
After a ritual to appease the gods of the river, when the fishing contest began in April 2010 the winner caught a fish weighing 318 kg.{{cite web
|url=http://www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/tourism/4602-nwonyo-takes-argungu-fishing-festivals-placebiggest-fish-weighs-318kg-ntdc-adds-colour-to-2010-edition
|title=Nwonyo takes Argungu fishing festival's place•Biggest fish weighs 318kg •NTDC adds colour to 2010 edition
|work=Nigerian Tribune
|author=Wale Olapade
|date=28 April 2010
|accessdate=2010-10-06}}
Rulers
Jukun rulers of the Wukari Federation, with title "Aku Uka", were:{{cite web
|url=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Nigeria_native.html
|title=Traditional States of Nigeria
|work=WorldStatesmen.org
|accessdate=2010-10-06}}
| class=wikitable style="text-align:right;" | ||
| style="width:8em;"|Start | style="width:8em;"| End | Ruler |
|---|---|---|
| 1833 | 1845 | style="text-align:left;padding-left:1em;"| Zikenyu Tsokwa Tasefu |
| 1845 | 1860 | style="text-align:left;padding-left:1em;"| Agbumanu I Agbu |
| 1860 | 1871 | style="text-align:left;padding-left:1em;"| Ashumanu II Jibo Kindonya |
| 1871 | 1903 | style="text-align:left;padding-left:1em;"| Awudumanu I Abite |
| 1903 | 1915 | style="text-align:left;padding-left:1em;"| Agbumanu II Agbunshu |
| 1915 | 1927 | style="text-align:left;padding-left:1em;"| Ashumanu III Ali |
| 1927 | 1940 | style="text-align:left;padding-left:1em;"| Agbumanu III Amadu |
| 1940 | 1945 | style="text-align:left;padding-left:1em;"| Ashumanu IV Angyu Masa Ibi |
| 1945 | May 1960 | style="text-align:left;padding-left:1em;"| Agbumanu IV Atoshi |
| 1960 | 1970 | style="text-align:left;padding-left:1em;"| Ashumanu V Adi Byewi |
| 1970 | 1974 | style="text-align:left;padding-left:1em;"| Awudumanu II Abe Ali |
| 1974 | 1976 | style="text-align:left;padding-left:1em;"| Agbumanu V Adda Ali |
| 1976 | 2021 | style="text-align:left;padding-left:1em;"| Shekarau Angyu Masa Ibi Kuvyon II |
| 2022 | style="text-align:left;padding-left:1em;"|Manu Ishaku Adda AliOnoja Audu (October 23, 2022). [https://independent.ng/lalong-charges-new-aku-uka-of-kwararafa-kingdom-manu-ishaku-ada-ali-to-provide-leadership-with-fear-of-god/ Lalong Charges New Aku Uka Of Kwararafa, Kingdom Manu Ishaku Ada Ali To Provide Leadership With Fear Of God]. Independent.ng. Retrieved February 16, 2023. |