A day at Koro Cultural Festival, FCT

The Koro people of Zuba, Bwari and Jiwa, who are among the 9 indigenous tribes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), alongside their kinsmen from Nasarawa, Niger and Kaduna, on December 9, 2023, converged on the football field of the Local Education Authority (LEA) Primary School, Zuba, Gwagwalada Area Council, where they held their annual Koro Cultural Festival. During the occasion, they showcased their cultural heritage, thrilling spectators within and outside the FCT.

Daily Trust on Sunday reports that spectators were enthralled by the performance of various cultural troupes from Nasarawa, Niger, Kaduna and the FCT.

Various kinds of masquerades and horses well decorated in different costumes marched in a procession to entertain onlookers at the event.

The head of traditional masquerades, Abdullahi Madaki Datsabi, who led 13 different groups to the venue, said that apart from cultural festivals, the masquerades also performed various roles during the death of a prominent person or chief priest in Koro land.

According to him, Akurka is a ceremonial masquerade that comes out only on the death of a prominent personality or chief priest in any Koro land, especially in Kaduna, Niger, Nasarawa and the FCT.

He said there was another tall masquerade known as Kuki Boreki, but popularly called Ashama, for people of the Suleja Emirate of Niger State and Koro people of Zuba, Bwari and Jiwa chiefdom of the FCT.

“The tall masquerades are three in number. They jointly perform to symbolise the death of a well recognised personality, especially within a royal lineage. The youngest among the masquerades called Tsunami usually performs in most Koro festivities,” he said.

He also said that another masquerade called Amayuwa, for the Koro people of Suleja and old Abuja, was believed to represent the spirit of their ancestors that comes to visit the world of the living.

“This particular masquerade normally performs during dry season to evoke fertility and bountiful harvest. During the event, a meal called eje-awasa in Koro language is eaten. Potash is usually not added to the meal; it is largely made up of dry banana leaves,” he said.

In his speech, the national president of the Association of Koro Communities in Nigeria (AKOCON), who is also the district head of Zumwa in Zuba chiefdom, Alhaji Kashim Mohammed Zuba, said the 6th annual Koro Cultural Festival was organised to signify peace and unity of the Koro ethnic group in the country.

He said the last Koro Cultural Festival was held in 2014 in Kaduna State.

He called on parents of the Koro tribe to send their children to school so that would become future leaders.

He also appealed to the federal government to identify with Koro people by appointing them into various agencies since they are also part of the citizens of the country.

In his welcome address, the Agora of Zuba, Mohammed Bello Umar, called on Koro indigenes across the country to remain united.

He also urged them to continue to sustain Koro culture and tradition, which he said were fast going into extinction.

He noted that human history and artifacts were fast dying as custodians are either death or the practice eroded by religious affiliations.

He said the festival was also organised for the new generation of the tribe to know their history, tradition and culture.

Appreciating both the past and present executive members of the AKOCON for organising the event, the monarch appealed to the government at all levels to carry Koro people along in the scheme of things in the country.

The Agaba of Jiwa, Alhaji Idris Musa, also said that for any society to witness development, there was the need for people, irrespective of tribe, religion or ethnicity, to be united.

He said Koro people were peace-loving and accommodating. He called on various tribes and adherents of religions to shun sentiment and come together as one people.

A former chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Abdullahi Adamu Candido, while unveiling the Koro wrapper, called on the 9 indigenous tribes in the FCT not to be ashamed of showcasing their cultural heritage wherever they go.

He said it was disturbing that some people always felt shy to speak or identify themselves at a public function or gathering, which he said had been giving a wrong impression that the FCT belonged to one tribe.

“It is because we are feeling shy to speak our language that some people out there see us as one tribe in the FCT. Everybody should be bold enough to identify themselves wherever they are,” he said.

Candido commended the executive members of the AKOCON for organising the annual cultural festival.

Daily Trust on Sunday reports that Niger, Nasarawa and Kaduna states sent representatives to the occasion.

Among FCT traditional rulers that graced the occasion were the Etsu of Wako chiefdom, Alhaji Abdulazeez D. Usman; chief of Pai, Abubakar Alhassan; the Agaba of Jiwa, Alhaji Idris Musa, as well as village/district heads across the FCT.