Gwari of the Capital

22nd June

Beth’s Diary, Entry II:

Who: Gbagyi/Gwari/Gbagi

Where: Abuja

I thoroughly enjoyed myself in Jos. Even though the gang and I were unable to visit the minor settlement in Bauchi. I believe we were able to get a good first-hand experience of the wonderful Izere people. I am further excited about our next journey. The trip advisor says it’s a 4hour drive from Makurdi to Abuja, but I’m sure General K can make it in 3 if we insist he slows down. The man is always in a hurry. I am a bit concerned about the choice I made to travel by road even if we do have more than enough for the whole team to take the 45m flight to the FCT. While the news of banditry has reduced in recent weeks, I am still sceptical; we need to travel by road to experience the countryside, don’t we?

Ok, so what do we know about the Gbagyi people. Cynthia volunteered in one of the towns in Abuja when she worked on that WHO assignment after her service year and Ciroma understands a bit of the language. Those two will sometimes greet in Gbagi instead of the English, we all know, lol. What’s the phrase Ciroma is always repeating again? Za kwu wo be-gyi ye, a bagyi che wo sa ya. When one confesses his faults, his punishment is lessened. That pretty much sums up all the Gbagi I know at this point.

Hmm, they are also actually called Gbagyi but because of their famous Gwari yam, the huge big ones that rival the ones seen in Benue, their neighbours started calling them Gwari and it stuck over the decades. Speaking of, for a minority tribe their numbers are quite impressive. With 5.8million people speaking the language spread across four states including the FCT, the Gwari people are a gradually dimming light in terms of culture and tradition. Overshadowed in the sight of the majority of Nigerians due to the popularity of the Hausa-Fulani culture erroneously taken as “all” of the North, the Gwari people, at least according to Cynthia’s eyewitness reports are people that are loyal to their customs.

I wonder if General Ibrahim Babangida kept all those customs as a child. Oh yeah, the former military head of state is a Gwari man. One of the most prominent of these customs is the no burdening the head rule. Whereas in some cultures, you’re allowed to carry a heavy load on your head, like say, a bucket of water from the stream, the Gwari do not allow any load on the head as it is the centre for thinking and in charge of governing the whole body. Instead, the shoulder carries anything that needs to be transported manually. They carry wood using a basket with a narrow base and broken calabash as a shoulder pad. The traditional Gwari people were able to lift their fair share of load without excess inconvenience.

Cynthia says they were not quick to follow the Western way of doing things so initially the preservation of their culture was strong but after the relocation of the FCT to Abuja, they had to make adjustments here and there. According to her, their belief is since you have your head to think and your God-given identity, why would you adopt another man’s identity. Migrating from a people of predominantly farmers, the attention the FCT brought reduced their land for farming and many left for white- and blue-collar jobs. With only the aged and underaged in farming, the people had to innovate in new ways to maintain a livelihood. I just can’t wait to get there then I can finally confirm some of these things I’ve heard about the Gbagyi folks. The Fanti of Kuta has promised to host us so let’s see how the whole trip goes!