Utanga: The forgotten Tiv community of Cross River

has eclipsed Utanga community itself a splendour with gorgeous hillocks and imposing hills stretching asymmetrically to the nearby Obudu mountains and the distant, famed, mytical Swem Kalagbe mountains in the Cameroon. The lush green vegetation gleaming under the bright midday sun at the edges of sweeping vales and jagged foothills; and the sweet melodies of chirpping parots and finches by the cool streams was an unforgettable experience.
Just about 28 kilometres from the paradisal foothills of the famous Obudu Cattle Ranch, Bessenge, the headquarters of Utanga nation conspicuously lies, but obviously neglected. Situated in Obanliku Local Government of Cross River State, the Utanga people, who speak the Utanga dialect, are believed to have a very close affinity with the Tiv people, who are their neighbours in the nearby Benue State.
Obanliku Local Government Area, which  was created by the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida on August 27, 1991 has its headquarters located at Sankwala. Obanliku is located in the Northern Senatorial District of Cross River State. It is both an inter-state and international boundary local government area. It is bounded in the north by Kwande Local Government of Benue State, in the east by the Republic of Cameroon, the west by Obudu Local Government Area, and in the south by Boki Local Government Area. Though the famous Obudu Mountaain Resort bears Obudu, a nearby local government, it is actually located in Obanliku, at the extreme border with Cameroon.
The district head of  Utanga, His Royal Highness Suhumba Joseph, said the community originated from Cameroon. He said, according to history handed down by their ancestors, the Utanga linguistic group took the same migration pattern as Tiv–from Cameroon through Swem Kalagbe hills to Nigeria.
“Our forebears told us that we originated from Cameroon, and as we were coming, we stopped at Swem Kalagbe, a mountain in Cameroon. We were descending in groups and the first batch that reached Nigeria went as far as to Benue, that is why uptill date you have Utanga Ushongo Local Government  in Benue. The last batch remained at Utanga, where majority of us are founnd today.
“We were also told that Utanga and Tiv are brothers; that is why as an Utanga child is born, it grows to understand and speak Tiv fluently. Only God knows why the Tiv don’t understand our language,” he added.
Interestingly, the chief said the Utanga people only sing in Tiv language, explaining that the people have not developed their vernacular into codes and as such use the Tiv Bible in church.
“You cannot hear an Utanga man singing in Utanga language, we all sing in Tiv, but we are trying to overcome the challenge,” he said.
An NKST evangelist, a church largely associated with the Tiv, Liam Atsete, himself an Utanga man, said he studied evangelism in Tiv language under the first NKST pastor in Mbaduku clan, Vandeikya Local Government of Benue State.
“Just as a you start to learn to eat, you start to pick up the Tiv language. Basically, Utanga are of the Tiv ethnic group, God just ordained that some of us should be in Cross River,” Atsete said.
Also, the catechist at St Anthony Parish, Bessenge, Cosmos Ikwogah said he was taught the Catholic Catechism in Tiv language. According to him, the difference between Utanga language and Tiv is a matter of dialectal variation, insisting that Utanga and Tiv are one homogeneous ethnic group.
Chief Suhumba, with so much enthusiasm and a sense of responsibility narrated how their forebears warned them not to shed the blood of their Tiv brothers, and not to marry or have sex with any Tiv girl from the neighbouring Kunav section of the Tivland.
He said the bond between Utanga and Kunav, especially, was so strong that if any Utanga man ventured to break the taboo, retribution is immediate–the  victim will contract kwashiokwo (swelling of the stomach) and die.
In a very frank manner, he recounted his personal experience some years back, when he met a Tiv girl in Niger State and asked her out and in the process of taking her to bed, he lost erection.
“It was a terrible experience for me. I tried all I could to make love to the girl, because she was so beautiful, but nothing worked. I then remembered what my father used to tell me about us not having sex with Kunav and I decided to ask the girl which part of Tiv she was from and she told me she was from Kunav in Vandeikya Local Government. I apologised to her that she was my sister and I was not supposed to make love to her,” he said.
But he explained that they were allowed to marry other clans and sections in Tiv and as  a result, they have inter-married with Kwande, who are their closest neighbours on the side of Tiv.  
He also said that during the protracted hostilities between Mbaduku clan in Vandeikya Local Government of Benue State and Obudu community in Cross River, the Obudu people would come and ask Utanga to go and support them fight the Tiv, but they would always explain that it was a taboo for an Utanga man to spill the blood of a Tiv man.
“We were also told that if an Utanga man goes to any Tiv compound and sees a ripe fruit, say mango, papaya or orange and wants to pluck and eat, and the  Tiv man says no, then the tree will immediately wither and die,” he added.
He said it was also not possible for a Tiv man to attack an Utanga man with witchcraft and vice versa.
According to him, even in so many aspects of the Utanga culture,  there are striking similarities with those of Tiv. He said the marriage rites, for  instance, either take the form of formal courtship followed by payment of dowry or informal courtship that culminates into elopement just as it is obtained in Tiv culture.
Suhumba said even ethnicities like Bebi, Obudu and Beleteke that surround them do not share such linguistic and cultural affinity, adding that what they share is simply proximity–being in the same local government and state.He, however, said that Amana, Belinge and Becheve dialects fell under the Utanga linguistic group.
He  said they co-existed peacefully with the other ethnic groups, often enjoying new yam, kingship coronation and religious festivals together; and buying and selling at Amana, Amagashi, Bendi, Sankwala and Utanga markets, coming up one after another every five days.
Amana market, which he said is also within Utanga nation, is an international market because it is located just a few kilometres on the Nigeria-Cameroon border.
Being an agrarian community, most of the goods sold and bought at the markets are farm produce, ranging from rice, groundnuts, garri, bananas to honey.
Utanga is a tranquil roadside village, ideal for vacation, but you are cut off from the rest of the world the moment you get there–no GSM network.
The Ulanga plateau, cuddling the sleepy community at the back is believed to be a rendezvous for witches and wizards in the whole world. They are said to meet there once a year, with every nation in the world having a representative.
When our reporter spoke with one of the oldest men in Vandeikya, Kungwa Ikya, he affirmed that Tiv and Utange, as the Tiv call them, actually came through the same axis–Swem Kalagbe hills in the Cameroon.
He said Tiv and Utange lived together as brothers and sisters for a very long time before they began to separate. According to him, there was a saying among the Kunav people which said: Me adoo u kpa mngu Utange.Which literally translates into “Even if I attract you I’m Utange.” He explained that the crux of the meaning was that Tiv and Utange were brothers and sisters.
The fragile looking but eloquent centenarian said it was a taboo with grave consequences for Kunav and Utange to marry themselves. “If the two venture to get married, they get kwashiokwo and die immediately. Even if they manage to bear children, they die at infancy,” he said.
He also said that he had heard of the Ulanga hill and he believes it exists. Accordding to him, the Ulanga hill is where Tiv refer to as Ugbe–a place in Tiv mythology, very steep in supernatural powers.
“At a particular time of the year all the sections in Tiv land–Jechira, Jemgbaa, Kwande, Sankera and Minda will elect a representative each and send to attend nocturnal meetings there. It is believed that all supernatural powers come from there and people go there to ask for powers for soothsaying, to heal with herbs, ask for fertility and bountiful harvest.
“The strange thing is: when you go there you don’t see anybody. Though they talk to you and you feel that there are people around you, you can’t see anybody. After they have given you what you requested, it is then you have to defend your life. Immediately you get what you want, they begin to pursue you, and if they catch you, they kill you and collect it back. So it is only the brave that go there and come back alive,” Ikya said.
 Apart from grapping headlines in 2012 when the picturesque community played host to hordes of displaced Fulani herders fleeing fighting from Taraba, though were eventually evicted by authorities, not much is known about the serene community.
Residents say it is usually the starting point for the annual Obudu Mountain Race, nobody has ever paid the community any attention and the youths are planning to disrupt the event in future if the state and the entire country continue to ignore them.
The youths, who spoke through Linus Umenna, demanded for recognition of their chief, as according to them, their chief has no palace. They also demanded for GSM network to be installed in the village.
The community can boast of a Primary Health Clinic, which offers free ante natal medical care to pregnant women and children up to five years; and a good road, but there are several other developmental challenges.
Chief Suhumba said they drink from natural springs because there is no pipe borne water. He also said the community faced security challenges, with armed bandits very often attacking the community unchallenged. He, therefore, appealed to the local and state authorities to come to the aid of the community.
He said the Utanga village was not an exclusively Utanga community, with scores of Hausa-Fulani herders and traders living peacefully with the indigenes.
Chief of the Hausa-Fulani community in Utanga also re-echoed the same sentiments, saying his people live peacefully with the rest of the members of the community but lamented the security challenges they face, especially during festivities.
Malam Jidda Hamanjoda said during Christmas, robberies are rampant and most of his people run to take refuge at the Divisional Police Headquarters in Sankwala, capital of Obanliku Local Government, about 30 kilometres from Utanga.
He appealed to the state government to install GSM network in the village so that residents can always alert security agencies whenever there is a security chhallenge.
Utanga is also battling to save its collapsed Communinity Secondary School at Bessenge. About five years ago, the school building close to Ulanga hill, was pulled down by windstorm. The principal, teachers and students became stranded and had to take refuge at RCM Primary School, Bessenge, hoping that government would renovate their school soon. But years have gone by, still there is no hope of raising the crumbled building. Menawhile, the meagre facilities of the primary school are being overstretched.
The newly posted principal of the community seconday school, Mr Adie Peter Adie told our reporter that it was a big challenge having to accomodate the over 400 students in the small primary school. He appealed to the government and Non–Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to come and assist the ccommunity in rebuilding the school, as it is the only nearby secondary school.
Already, the community has gone back to clear the ruins of the school with the hope of moving the students back there as soon as they can.
Utanga can also boast of an exquisite hotel, the Safari Lodge, located directly opposite the chief’s house, but the people say they do not know the impact of the hotel on their community.
Suhumba, who decried the marginalisation of his clan said his people were not employed at the Safari.  He, however, said that because of the lack of network in the village, most tourists, who sometimes prefer to lodge there because it is cheaper but quite luxurious, run away after discovering that they are rendered incommunicado, and as a result, the hotel suffers low patronage.