By
\nJohn Akevi<\/p>\n
The prime purpose of this piece is to examine the Tiv hospitality
\nagainst the background of the many misconception sold to the wider
\nsociety by some western scholers,writers and even by some ethnic
\ngroups surrounding Tivland.
\nDespite the attempts made by some latter European
\nwriters,anthropologists and ethnographers to redeem the image of the
\nTiv already set ablaze by their anxiety to penetrate Tivland and to
\nestablish alien rule in an era of imperialism,based their
\nunderstanding of the Tiv people on earlier 19th Century European
\naccounts.
\nRev.Fr.Dr. Ushe Mike Ushe in his masterpiece titled, “Kpor of Tiv
\nculture”(2010),elucidates,…the gross misconception about Tiv
\nhospitality in pre,Modern and Post-modern times. Some of these
\nmisconception are: That Tiv are hostile and aggressive set of people
\nwho like fighting with their neighbors in order to expand their
\nterritorial boundaries. Second,that the Tiv do share their wives with
\nvisitors in the name of hospitality. Third,that adultery and
\nfornication are not sins in Tiv Religion. Those who are either biased
\nor prejudiced about the Tiv people have blown these and other related
\nmisconception out of proportion. However,we could ask: Are the Tiv
\npeople really hostile? Is adultery as well as fornication not sinful
\nin Tiv Religion or society at large? Do the Tiv people actually share
\ntheir wives with visitors?
\nDr.Ushe (2010) emphatically expresses this thus:…one important fact
\nto note here is that Tiv are vocal,open minded
\npeople,curious,inquisitive and practical,especially when they are
\nunjustly maltreated,subjugated or when they want to project their
\nview. Paul Bohannan and Laura Bohannan (1953) confirm this,thus:
\n….the Tiv are the most practical and unsuperstitious people that we
\nhad met on the vast continent of Africa….They are a group with an
\nindependent turn of mind,and are the most ethnocentric people in the
\nworld.<\/p>\n
In Tiv society fornication and adultery are known as sex taboo. Dr.
\nUshe (2010) explain…sex is a sacred thing and if there is a breach
\nof its sacredness,the consequences are grievous. Suemo (2001) opines
\nthat fornication and adultery are tabooed acts in Tivland because:
\n…Tiv people accept sexual intercouse as a natural need that is
\nstrategic to human life…But the rate at which a Tiv man looks at
\nsomeone caught in the very acts of fornication and adultery shows how
\ncriminal the acts are. In Pre-modern Tiv society,punishment for
\ncommitting such offences ranged from severe corporeal punishment to
\ncontempt for the preson involved. If such persons swore “Swem”it was
\nbelieved that the would fall sick,have a swollen stomach,severe
\nheadache and subsequently die.
\nSuemo’s presentation above indicates that the Pre-colonial,colonia and
\neven post-colonial Tiv society frowns at sexual aberrations like
\nfornications, incest,homosexuality,lesbianism etc. The Tiv are always
\nforthright in attacking defaulters who indulge in these acts. These
\ndeviant behaviors are considered by the Tiv people to sexual
\naberrations. Those who indulge in any of those sex taboos was required
\nto make some required purification rituals so as to be cleansed.
\nIn Tiv society,the practice of hospitality is highly emphasized. The
\nTiv people have a strong philosophy of solidarity as “Ya kwagh na wan
\nigban”(eat and share with your brother), they also believed that this
\nphilosophy can only be strong when people generously care for others.
\nThe Tiv gesture of kindness and receptibility towards visitors has
\noften been misconstrued. But the fact still remains that Tiv people
\nhold in high esteem the virtue of : welcoming strangers,protecting
\nvisitors (u eren a mba van nya dedoo), feeding the hungry (u naan mba
\nijen i ker ve kwaghyan), housing the homless (u taren ior ikyar ki
\nyaven),among others. But it must be noted that Tiv people do not joke
\nwith thier wives talkless of sharing them consciously with others. It
\nis common to hear a Tiv man say, “U keren kwase me tambe u ken ken”(If
\nyou have lostful relationship with my wife I must bewitch you).
\nDuring the Pre-colonial times,there were several cases of fornications
\nand adulterers in Tiv society who were cursed,bewitched or even
\nkilled. If the people could be so brutal against themselves for being
\npromiscuous,what would one expect when it concerns an outsider?
\nIn generations past,the Tiv people were strong warrior tribe. Through
\nwar conquests they aquired many slaves,among which were women. When a
\nTiv man had a visitor,he would sometimes send one of the female slaves
\nto keep him company. The visitor who was not resident there would
\nthink that the woman was the Tiv man’s wife. But if the slave
\neventually got pregnant and gave birth,the child became a slave by
\nbirth this mean more hands at farm. Must of the slaves were later sold
\nto the whitemen.
\nI rest my pen.<\/p>\n
John Akevi
\nGboko,Benue state.
\nTel:08188188081<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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