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THE NATION SETTING
Afizere - a unique ethnic nationanality found in Plateau and Bauchi states - bounded by Gombe, Kaduna, and Nassarawa states of North-Central and North-Eastern Nigeria respectively. Colonised by the British from 1914 to 1960.
The Pre-Colonial Era
Afizere during this time lived mostly on hills in clan settlements located
in a place called Bauchi and Plateau states today. At that time there was
nothing like village, chief, district, chiefdom, state, local government or any form of geographical or boundary excise.No one cares who farms or settles on whose land. Every place was just free for everyone. However, the people lived in clan settlements in which clan heads existed. the clan heads were
regarded as elders and are accorded due respect in that regard. Till this day, clan heads still exist in Izereland. But reduced to the scope of sub-clan heads popularly called Ites perherps owing to increased populaton. The eldest in each sub-clan (Kutes) represents the clan head and are
accorded the same respect as former.
Infact, an Afizere knows about his fellow by asking which clan he/she comes from and not the question of where he came from. This trend has continued from generation to generation till this day.
Want to explore about Afizere clans? Click Here
Afizere loved farming and hunting as well as pastoral farming/nomadic agriculture and as a result became very adventurous. They
never liked staying in one place but moved from one place to another(mostly individually and
sometimes with family) in search for greener pastures, Family-independence (Ikam-kadonong),
Bush fallowing and shifting cultivation among other things. These made them occupy a very large
land mass(size) even though they are not too populous.
The People do not only love living on hills, but also farm there. about half of their lands are covered/surrounded
by mountains. Additionally, these mountains are named for ease of description and
location in case of war/communal clashes among other things. some include Amurumo - presently Dutse Uku
,Kawhanang Azhosh, etc all in present Jos Jarawa - Jos North Local Government Area of
Plateau State, North-Central - Nigeria. Others are Abaar Agwom sha, Akpeng, etc in
present Jos East LGA and Kawhanang Abuntu(Kaze Agarka) in present shaaka in Jos South LGA. A detailed
documentary of all these mountains, including photographs and videos will soon feature on
this website.
It is also important to note here that living on hills made Afizere unconquerable by the Hausa
Jihadist of Bauchi Emirate though some few were captured and Islamised at that time.
The Colonial Era
When the white men came, Afizere fought tooth and nail to resist them. But the British fought
back to conquer them.They first came in through Kuganang presently in Shere district.
while they were using guns, the Afizere were using bows and arrows. Infact, Afizeres are unique
when it comes to shooting with bow and arrow because it is the only weapon they had known from time
immemorial. And the mastering in shooting is impressively and professionally outstanding (This is owing to the fact that one of the major occupation of the people is hunting) because they also had Shooting Trainnig
Excercises(Itang Idaar). If that culture or tradition had continued till this day, perherps they could have been ranked the world's best in archery. However while they succeded in killing and eating some of them in the name of
white wild animals(probably the albino baboon), the whites shooting and killing with their
guns. But when they realised that the guns were killing them too much they gave up and surrendered.
The colonial masters discovered that the people were living without rulers but only clan settlements. Thereafter
Provinces and Divisions were created. This event divided the Afizere into two areas. While some were in Jos Division of Plateau Prince, others found themselves in Bauchi province. But all were in the same
region, Th Northern region.Note that These days, so many people are being misinformed that Afizere migrated from Bauchi to Jos, which is not true.
Afizere villages in Jos Division were five (5) in number. They are Gwafan, Furaka, Gwash, Fudawa
and Jos Jarawa villages as listed below:
 Gwash comprising Kumaburu, Nukpis, Itsitsa wards
Gwafan comprising Gwafan(Lamingo), Kunyi Katse(Haske)
Furaka comprising Kuraka (Furaka), Dan Kankani, Atili
Fudawa comprising Kufudo (Fudawa), Eto Baba, Yan Trailer
Jos Jarawa comprising Kwanga, Sabon gari(Atu Akan), katon Rikkos,Kunyi Kagara(Millionaires quaters, shaaka), Kyan Rikkos, Kaben Rizek(Rikkos new layout), Jos Jarawa(Tina, Dutse Uku/Amurumo, Nassarawa,Yan Trailer), Dong and Agyese (Tudun Wada, Hwolshe, Abattoir, N.T.A and Jos Wild Life Park)
The ward heads make up the Executive Council of every Village. Jos Jarawa village is apparently the largest. Some said jokenly that contesting the stool of the village head of Jos Jarawa at that time could be equated to contesting the governorship seat of a state in Nigeria this day.
However,these villages were authenticated and documented by the colonial masters since 1914 (though already existed prior to that time) and are currently
at the National Archives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.Click here to see Certified True Copy.
The Excise also resulted in the creation of five (5) Afizere villages in the Bauchi
Province. They include Federe, Fobor, Fursum, Maigemu, and Shere. In all, Afizere had ten villages
throughout the reign of colonial administration in Nigeria - Western Africa.
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