Understanding Tiv hospitality

Rev. Fr. Ushe Mike Ushe in his masterpiece titled, “Kpor of Tiv culture” (2010), elucidates the gross misconception about Tiv hospitality in pre-modern and post-modern times. Some of these misconceptions are that the Tiv are a hostile and aggressive set of people who like fighting with their neighbours in order to expand their territorial boundaries. […]

Rev. Fr. Ushe Mike Ushe in his masterpiece titled, “Kpor of Tiv culture” (2010), elucidates the gross misconception about Tiv hospitality in pre-modern and post-modern times. Some of these misconceptions are that the Tiv are a hostile and aggressive set of people who like fighting with their neighbours in order to expand their territorial boundaries. Second, that the Tiv do share their wives with visitors in the name of hospitality. Third, that adultery and fornication are not sins in Tiv religion. Those who are either biased or prejudiced about the Tiv people have blown these and other related misconceptions out of proportion.  Dr Ushe emphatically explains one important fact to note here is that Tiv are vocal, open-minded people, curious, inquisitive and practical, especially when they are unjustly maltreated, subjugated or when they want to project their view. Paul Bohannan and Laura Bohannan (1953) confirm this, thus: the Tiv are the most practical people that we had met on the vast continent of Africa…They are a group with an independent turn of mind, and are the most ethnocentric people in the world.
In Tiv society fornication and adultery are known as sex taboo.  Ushe explains that sex is a sacred thing and if there is a breach of its sacredness, the consequences are dire. Suemo (2001) says that fornication and adultery are tabooed acts in Tivland because…Tiv people accept sexual intercourse as a natural need that is strategic to human life…But the rate at which a Tiv man looks at someone caught in the very acts of fornication and adultery shows how criminal the acts are. In pre-modern Tiv society, punishment for committing such offences ranges from severe corporeal punishment to contempt for the person involved. If such persons swore “Swem” it was believed that they would fall sick, have a swollen stomach, severe headache and subsequently die. Suemo’s presentation above indicates that the pre-colonial, colonial and even post-colonial Tiv society frowns at sexual aberrations like fornications, incest, homosexuality, lesbianism, etc.  
In Tiv society, the practice of hospitality is highly emphasized. The Tiv people have a strong philosophy of solidarity as “Ya kwagh na wan igban”(eat and share with your brother), they also believed that this philosophy can only be strong when people generously care for others.
The Tiv gesture of kindness towards visitors has often been misconstrued. But the fact still remains that Tiv people hold in high esteem the virtue of: welcoming strangers, protecting visitors (u eren a mba van nya dedoo), feeding the hungry (u naan mba ijen i ker ve kwaghyan), housing the homeless (u taren ior ikyar ki yaven), among others. But it must be noted that Tiv people do not joke with their wives talk less of sharing them consciously with others. It is common to hear a Tiv man say, “U keren kwase me tambe u ken ken”(If you have lustful relationship with my wife I must bewitch you).
During the Pre-colonial times, there were several cases of fornications and adulterers in Tiv society who were cursed, bewitched or even killed. If the people could be so brutal against themselves for being promiscuous, what would one expect when it concerns an outsider?
 
John Akevi, Gboko, Benue State<[email protected]>;