Brief History of Afizere People.
The Afizere people (Other:Jarawa) are an ethnic group that occupy Jos East, Jos North, some parts of Mangu Local Government Areas of Plateau State, Tafawabalewa and Toro Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Nigeria. The Afizere are speakers of Izere language. They are surrounded by the Berom to the west, Mwaghavul in Mangu to the south, Anaguta people to the northwest.
Religion:- African religions, Christianity, Islam.
The Afizere previously settled in the Chawai region of Southern Kaduna State Kaduna and has time passed different Afizere groups moved southwards.[3] The first group from Southern Kaduna settled at the foot of the hills called Gwash close to the current location of the Jos Museum[4] and others settled at the foot of Shere Hills in the Jos Plateau.[3] Different Afizere clans soon settled southwards of Chawai lands. Currently there are more than 500,000 Afizere people[5] distributed in over 16 major traditional districts who inhabit territories within Jos North, Jos East, Mangu, in plateau state and Tafawabalewa and Toro local governments in Bauchi states. During the pre-colonial period, the people lived in hilly terrains surrounding the Jos Plateau as a defense mechanism against jihadist attacks during and after the Fulani Jihad. Some Afizere towns and villages include Dong, Tudun Wada (gyese), Kabong, Jos Jarawa, Rikkos, Fudawa, Kwanga, Fobur, Angware, Maijuju, Fusa, Gwafan (lamingo) Etc.
Izere towns have a traditional and gerontocratic[6] chieftaincy system that is headed by an Agwom[7] and supported by districts heads representing the five royal families of the Afizere: Fobur, Forsum, Maigemu, Shere and Federe. In Afizere land, a district could be a combination of 6 to 12 villages. Historically, the Agwom was also the chief priest of the people
A traditional dance called Asharuwa is one of the cultural heritage the Afizere have maintained over the years. The asharwa dance group represented Nigeria in countries like USA, UK, Canada, Germany, South Africa, Ukraine, and Kenya.
Language:-
The language of the people is called Izere and it is spoken in five different dialects. The dialects are Ibor spoken largely in the Fobur district, Isum spoken in Forsum villages, Iganang spoken in Shere, Ifudere spoken in Federe and Ikyo.[5] Izere is considered to be part of the Benue-Congo language group that is prominent in Central Nigeria.
Religion:-
Christianity and Islam are the two major religions among the Afizere but some Afizere still choose to adhere to their traditional beliefs. In traditional Afizere religion, there is a supreme deity called Adakunom meaning father of the sun who is considered the creator and source of life and health. A few minor gods exist to act as mediators to Adakunom. Father of the sun is the literal translation of Adakunom but can be translated as “father, the sun” or “mighty sun” (the almighty sun).[5] Then there are the spirits or witches who are the source of both good and evil.
Christianity came to Afizere land by the way of Sudan Interior Mission preachers[5] who converted some Afizere individuals who later acted as agents of dispersion of the religion.
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