Felix Peter Vogarempi: The Emergence of New Kpanti Zing And The Challenge...

Felix Peter Vogarempi: The Emergence of New Kpanti Zing And The Challenge...: The Emergence of New Kpanti Zing And The Challenges Before Him Life is a struggle and a continual climb if you are to reach your goal. T...

ZINGKASEWEBA: Just a Name! 0r True Exposition of Mumuye Identity?

                                                                 INTRODUCTION

The power of name and its value has long been immortalized in prose, poetry and religious ceremony, every person recognizes himself or herself by name. The only thing that separate human beings from the animal kingdom is human mind, which has the ability to reason on a conscious level. To think consciously one must use language, it is impossible to think without language. Language itself is an instrument for expressing and not for concealing or preventing thought, each word expresses what it mean or intended to be and much about language are expressed in names; that is why names for newborns are commonly chosen from a selection of existing names belonging to the cultural and linguistic group of which the parents are part. In many instances, the choice is intended to perpetuate the memory of forebears or to honour members of the family or cultural heroes. Names were/are uniquely created to express parental sentiments at the time of birth. It may be gratitude to the God, as with the name of Samuel (I Sam. 1:20). It could be a prayer for the newborn's future, as with the name Joshua, or a re-affirmation of the parents' belief in God, as with the name Elitzur (Num. 1:5), or other emotions predominating at that moment. In some society such as Mumuye society names seem to represent a description of historical epochs and their development, At times, it also have predictive connotations for example SONKPANTIROVI and ZINGKASEWEBA. In most instances, however, it is left to the reader to explore what is implied in the name which has been created. Often a variety of interpretations are possible. It is true that name is what differentiate us and gives us identity no wonder Izu M. Onyeocha once said “it is the African who must define himself”[1]  therefore; it is the Mumuye person who must define his society and all it practices which names are inclusive in other to give the true picture of his society The lessons of History teach that ideas create conditions, trends dictate the way of life, Public opinion rules, evil institutions cannot prosper, unless a majority accept and follow corrupt views which are seen in phenomenon.  Today zingkaseweba has become the way of life for the Mumuye people.

DUALITY OF THOUGHT

There may be two class of thinker among Mumuye some view Zingkaseweba just as a name while other view it as the true identity of Mumuye person. Personal due to the happening in our society i have come to align myself to those that believe that Zangkaseweba is not just a name but true exposition of Mumuye Person and  if you disagree proof us wrong in writing my reasons are below

TROJAN HORSE OF ZINKASEWABA IDENTITY

The term Trojan horse comes from Greek mythology, It simple mean somebody or something that is meant to disrupt, undermine, subvert, or destroy an enemy or rival, especially somebody or something that operates while concealed within an organization. Because of mental laziness among Mumuye people, good numbers of Mumuye persons have recourse to this Trojan horse that is why ZINGKASEWEBA has become Mumuye identity even in matters that require rigorous scrutiny, analysis and appraisal. Paradoxically, an irrational event has gain popularity in Mumuye land. We have today rapid proliferation of social crisis in our society where brothers hardly see themselves as brothers because of social  differences. What are these Trojan horse? They are

RELIGION: with the condemnation of traditional religion Christianity and Islamic religion was presented as the alternative new religion. The Mumuye person was told to abandon his traditional religion that was Cosmocentric, localised within the circumference of private shrines for a new religion that is theocentric, that demands an act of faith in GOD, expressed through private and collective acts of worship and with a universal orientation. Everything about the traditional religion was condemned in favour of the new religions (Christianity and Islam). To mark the switch over from old religion to the new, converts were made to undergo a rite of passage through Baptism in Christianity and janabah (ritual bath) in Islam which indicates separation from old religious modes of living to a new life, in some villages the converts were transferred from their natural family to new religious family. This entails among other things, a total separation, not only from the old religious practice, but from their family and friends. Thus the imposition of a new religion led to disintegration of Mumuye cultural set up. Families were/are divided among themselves, and a notable conflict of division was/is inflected between Christians and Muslims

EDUCATION: beside religion schools (both western and Arabic) were built to impart knowledge, however, every package of education be it western or arabic in whichever way it was designed and parcelled, was not meant for good of the people, the school system was designed for the real intellectual formation of the people but was motivated by a morbid interest meant to exploit every bit of the human resources for the benefit of the educationist.. The school became rather a sinister process of indoctrination. Indeed, it represented a potent organ for the infusion of less realistic and unauthentic information about reality. People were overdosed with false opinions; false values were passed on as substitutes for real ones. The education did not equip people with a critical framework to differentiate between a fact and an opinion about other religious practises, or to distinguish between established principles and debatable one rather it help the convert to view other religion as unbeliever.

New LANGUAGE: every human society is remarkably distinguished by its unique mode of communication manifested in its possession of a particular linguistic system of interaction. Through education system English and Arabic language was imposed, the ability to communicate effectively through English or recite Quran or prayer in Arabic became more than any other symbol of formal education, the hallmark of a learned person. Beside the fact that the new language helped Mumuyes to understand their new religion in their own language, it equally made many of them bilingual and as such it led the mumuye to abandon their native language and this is leading to the extinction of Mumuye language. For you to pray to God and for him to answer you, you must use Arabic or English, this seems to me that the God of the new religion only understand English or Arabic not Mumuye.

THE TRUE NATURE OF MUMUYE SOCIETY TODAY

There is a notable crisis in Mumuye land. There is a notable disorientation in differentiation and a clear lack of sense of direction in different sphere, it is difficult to determine with a type of mathematical exactitude, the diminishing rate of old mumuye societal values and the increasing rate of the new one, this state of uncertainty gives rise to a frustrating state of confusion, where people are overburdened by the guiding principles of two opposing cosmological frameworks. The coming of religion should have brought good to Mumuye instead it brought Evil and frustration. Today Mumuye society has become a society where people have lost the basic orientation for a meaningful existence; where evil deeds and actions have been gradually installed as acceptable values where criminals of all ranks are hailed and crowned for making it. It is a society where the poor are continually being oppressed and marginalised, where poor parents who are blessed by God with children have no means of sustenance, no means of proving their children with a good education; where parents, even without willing it , starve themselves to death in order to train their children; where parent work themselves to death in their subsistent business and trading centres in order to provide for their children; where the majority die of malnutrition and starvation; where funeral ceremonies have become a daily event. Where talents and capabilities are not given due attention; where you have no means of achieving your intellectual desires and great visions for a significant existence; academic certificates have no meaning and systematic knowledge have no place and the cult of mediocrity and blatant obscurantism are paraded in stylish modes. All these anomalies are in existence largely because of religious differences and selfish interest, today if a graduate is seeking for job or there is any opportunity for appointment the criteria for you to get the appointment is your religion not qualification.

LIGHT AT END OF THE TUNNEL

Hope is not completely lost now that we are starkly aware of the fact that the good our elders never undertook is on our hands now, we are to redefine ourselves to whoever we want to be if we want mumuye person to advance and his community to develop a step further, we must turn over a new leaf, we must work new concepts of our names and attitudes, we must break the coils of the past, recreate our history. We must decide whether we shall remain zingkaseweba and underdeveloped transcend that idea, no one can force us toward this but there is a future world waiting for us, many futures, one is the future of our children, not yet born or just beginning but wanting to live, grow and become their possible best in a good and developed society. This will not happen unless we change our perspectives.

---

[1] Izu M. Oyeocha, “Africa: The question of Identity” in identity and change, ed. by Theophilius Okere Washington D.C: Paideia Pub 1996, p38

EDUCATION: A MEANS FOR EMPLOYMENT OR SELF RELIANCE?

Socrates once said “an unexamined life is not worth living” he reached this philosophical conclusion when he found that his colleagues are pursuing goals without ascertaining its relevance. It is no difference to see in Nigeria the large numbers of students in each academic establishment be it primary, secondary or tertiary levels are pursuing education without considering its importance, all they aimed at, is acquiring certificates such as degree, diploma, NCE and so on.

Today what is undeniable in Nigeria is the alarming numbers of graduates going from one office to another seeking for jobs; this reality impels me to ask whether acquiring education is only a means for government employment? to give an objective answer one need to highlight the basic purpose of education. The purpose of education According to Arthur W. Foshay  is to develop the intellect, to serve social needs, to contribute to the economy, to create an effective work force, to prepare students for a job or career, to promote a particular social or political system. This implies that Education is designed to guide the learners in learning, moulding his/her behaviour in the ways of adulthood, and directing them toward their eventual role in society. Therefore education is a means of empowerment, to know what to do even if a person cannot secure government job, education is not only a source of employment, it also prepares a person to be self reliance and employer of labour.

Nigerians should know that acquiring educational certificates is not an assurance of becoming government worker, it is an indicator that you have acquired skills and knowledge, that an individual is now an informed personality that can contributes positively to the development of the society. Nigerian graduates it is high time you stopped wasting your time waiting for government jobs, if you can’t get government job use your acquired knowledge and become employer of labour, many have done it and are successful, in fact most of the wealthy personalities in the world today are not government employees, they are employers of labour perhaps an examples may serve as a pointer to the this fact; for example, Bill gates the most popular investor, computer programmer, the co- founder of Microsoft, the world’s largest PC software company topped the list of top richest people in the world with his net worth of 81.1 billion, without been employed by the government, Mark zuckerberg an American computer programmer, internet entrepreneur and philanthropist is the chairman, chief executive and co-founder of the social networking website facebook. Is the youngest billion, with a net worth US $46 billion without been a government staff, Aliko Dangote controls over 60% of Nigeria's sugar market and over 42% of the country's cement market, on the 9th of March 2011, Forbes magazine declared Aliko Dangote the richest black person in the world with a net worth of $13.8billion.

The above personalities are wealthy and have achieved it in life not because they got government job but because they used their acquired knowledge creatively. Finally education is essentially the act of leading a human person from ignorance to proper knowledge, when you acquire this proper knowledge, stop depending completely on government for job, look at other good options that will really portray you as an informed personality.

PLEASE VISIT THIS LINK
http://cashway.xyz/?cash=22886

Toward Local Government Elections: what zing people should know

We are by nature political animals; there is in everyone by nature, an impulse towards politics, Politics involves the art of organising people in a society to live and interrelate with each other to the full realisation of their social nature. It is rational to man as compared to the other animals that he alone has the perception of good and bad, just and unjust, thus he seek partnership with others in politics for the sake of noble actions not for the sake of living together. In essence this partnership is responsible for the greatest goods. We humans are situated beings. We do not speak from nowhere. We speak from within our environment; thus this article is about the political situations of Zing local government, The aim of this article is to increase our understanding of the root causes of our backwardness and underdevelopment so that from an informed position right action could be taken when it comes to democratic processes, it is not aimed at castigating anybody or religious group but to lay bare the objective predicament of zing local government.

Zing is one of the oldest local government areas of Taraba state, the predominant tribes found in Zing are Mumuyes, and this local government produced the first civilian governor of Taraba state (Jolly Nyameh). Apart from this, quite a number of the sons and daughters of this local government held/are holding prominent positions at state and federal level. Inspite of this remarkable achievement of producing the first elected governor of Taraba state, the local government is still one of the poorest in terms of road, health service, water and electricity supply, access to education and social amenities. In fact the situation is such that one cannot but refer to zing local government as one of the most backward local government in Taraba state.

A lot of factors are responsible, but the most paramount is the unnecessary inclusion of religion into the political scene of zing local government. This religion is not in term of Christians Vs Muslim or Traditional religion worshippers but Christians Vs Christians, that is denominational politics where Catholics will always prefers catholic member to be the local government chairman while Methodist will also prefers his member to be the chairman or other churches in the local government also prefers their members. And this is based on the assumption that our members are good and better educated to govern the local government, or that our members are the ruling class of Zing, To assume that all your members are good people is to be wilfully blind to the reality of the human condition, and it severely limits our scope for becoming more effective at leadership.

As it is, only Catholics, Methodist and Muslims persons have governed the local government, and analysing their leadership, some of Our past local government leaders were characterised by the following; none payment of workers’ salaries, looting the treasury, sacking those who disagreed with their dubious ways, intimidating the

workers, lack of project initiatives, some were corrupt, some were just position occupant not leaders because leadership goes with responsibility.
Leadership is usually judged by the good or harm it does to individuals, society or community as a whole, appraising the dividend of democracy in zing local government, it shows that democracy has done more harm than good because of the religious politics. Base on religious sentiment unqualified individuals were/are given the mantle of leadership, which in turn restricted the local government opportunities into failure. the local government have faced with these realities of failure in virtually all areas, such as bad road, inadequate basic social infrastructure, corruption and abject poverty, this system has encouraged bad leadership and lack of accountability
Local government elections are at the corner, zing people should shone this religious sentimental politics, which always recycle people who are mere show of shame to zing local government, people with selfish reasons for aspiring to lead when in fact who has no ideas of the common good. This time around, our vote should be on credibility, we should elect progressive leaders not an oligarchy where few people controls everything, Since Democracy is the form of government, in which the people decide how they want to be governed and who should govern them we must elect individuals that have focus not based on religious denominational sentiments, if really we must build zing of our dreams

IS DEATH AN EVIL?

INTRODUCTION

A person may be here today and tomorrow he/she is gone. We do hear of obituaries everydayand almost every day there is burial here and there in different churches, mosques, villages orin family or town, you must have had someone who died, either friend or family member etc.one thing that is clear is that you will not see that person again. You may be there when theywere buried. It is very difficult to understand why, it may even make you to think why struggleto work at all since suddenly we may abandon the fruit of our labour and sufferings anddisappear from the face of the earth. The power of death over man is so overwhelming thatpeople express their helplessness in the hands of death in the names they give. Some of thesenames among Mumuye people are Voviyere (death is something from God) Vogadabi (deathstarted from father) vodaweya (who is spared from death) Vozeramba (death does not look atpoverty) Voyonikeya (can you die because of work) etc all these names expresses manhelplessness before death.Death does not discriminate but rather takes the young, the old, men, women and youthsalike. Death manipulates man as it pleases. Christianity teaches that death is a transition. TheCatholic Church teaches that death is a sleep, repose and death is only the passing over froman imperfect and perishable life to that full life which has no end. The Catholic preface of thedeath has these expressions; the sadness of death gives way to the bright promise ofimmortality. Lord, for your faithful people life is changed, not ended. When the body of ourearthly dwelling lies in death, we gain an everlasting place in heaven. Going from the abovedeath for a Christian should be a thing for joy but why is it that the mere mention of the worddeath everybody is afraid, the word death brings a lot of commotion among people. Does thatmean that death is an evil? Or people prefer perishable things on earth than everlasting life inheaven. This article seeks to delve into the nature of death as conceived by different peoples.THE CONCEPT OF DEATHEvery culture, ancient or recent, Eastern or Western, black or white, has its own beliefs andreligious dictates regarding the perceptions of death. Take for example the indestructibility orimmortality of the soul, a concept that is common to many religions. Hindu teachings indicatethat the soul passes at death to another body, even if the body is nonhuman. For Christian,death is not natural but a punishment, the first people, Adam and Eve were not created mortal,they were created in the image of God, and this perfect condition seems to excludedecomposition and mortality. Physical death is not the continuation of man’s original mortalcondition, after he failed to rise to the height of immortality by his disobedience. Physicaldeath is the result of the fall into sin, a fall from the possibility to continue in immortality tothe depth of mortality! In the bible, physical death is not represented as something natural toman, but rather as an expression of divine anger (Ps90:7-11), as a judgement of God (Rom1:32) a condemnation (Rom5:16) and curse (Gal 3:13). If God were only just, he might imposedeath immediately after Adam’s transgression (Gen2:17). Christianity teaches that with thecoming of Jesus, for Christian death has become a sleep, repose... it is only the passing overfrom perishable life to that full life which has no end. Therefore death is a return. Man is soiland returns to the soil (Gen.3:19). The spirit returns to God who gave it (Ecc.12:7). The soulreturns to the unseen whence it came (Psa.9:17 and Acts 2:27, 31). In fact Job speaks of deathclearly when he says: For I know that Thou wilt return me to death. (Job 30:23).Neither man as a whole, nor any part of him enters a new, unknown condition at death, but allreturns to the state from which it emerged when life was imparted. Even as the body wascreated of existing entities, so with the spirit which was given by God; and at death thesereturn to the same condition in which they were before. Further on Christian’s conception ofdeath, The Apostle's Creed, an ancient statement of Christian faith, ends with the followinglines:(I believe in...) the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen This resurrection is notjust a return to the old life of sickness and pain (as was the case when Jairus' daughter andLazarus were raised to life) but a beginning of an entirely new life where sickness and deathhave no sway. This life is a share of Christ's Resurrection.Every Christian is scared of dying. The uncertainty of what lies beyond is frightening, nowonder John Donne Re-echoes “No man is an Island. Any man’s death diminishes me,because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for the bell tolls, is tollsfor thee!!! For the philosophers, like Martin Heidegger Dasein that is man is a being towardsdeath. For him death is not only part of the Dasein, but Dasein reaches his wholeness in death.Hence, he affirms once born, dasein is old enough to die; which mean no one dies so young.For the Muslim, the whole of this life constitutes a trial and a test for the human by means ofwhich his final destiny is determined. Death is therefore the return of the soul to its Creator,God. the concept of death and the afterlife in Islam is derived from the Qur’an the finalrevealed message from God For Muslims, it is clear that Allah, not man, is in charge of death,as revealed in the following verses:“... at length when death approaches one of you, our angels take his soul ..."(Qur'an 6; Verse61) and "It is He who doth take your souls by night and hath knowledge what ye have done byday. Then He doth raise you up again that a term appointed be fulfilled ...” (Qur’an 6; Verse 60)Then again, It is Allah that taketh the souls (of men) at death and those that die not, He takesduring their sleep. Those on whom He has passed the decree of death He keeps back (fromreturning to life) but the rest He sends (back to their bodies) for a term appointed."(Qur'an 39;Verse 42) These ayat tells that the permanent disconnection of soul from body is death. Muchof death remains a mystery to men, as Allah reminds Muslim that "... of knowledge it is only alittle that is given to you."(Qur’an 17; Verse 85) The basic premise of all Qurʿānic teachingconcerning death is Allāh's omnipotence: he creates human beings, determines their life span,and causes them to die. The Qurʿān states: “Some will die early, while others are made to liveto a miserable old age, when all that they once knew they shall know no more (22:5).DUAL NATURE OF DEATH AS CONCEIVED BY PEOPLEDuality has been defined as a situation or nature that has two states or parts that arecomplementary or opposed to each other. Death has been conceived as having dual nature asexpanded bellow, some holds death as an evil while others holds death as a means tohappiness.A. Death as an evilEvil has been defined as that which is morally bad or wrong, or that which causes harm, pain,or misery. Death, being the cause of all lost souls and destroyer of every bridge built by birthcan be seen as evil because it causes pain misery to the bereaved, the thought death is an evilis well articulated in Aristotle argument. Here is Aristotle’s argument:Sappho says, to die is an evil; for the gods have thus decided. For otherwise they would bedying,The argument would appear to be something like this:If dying is a good, then (since the gods have all goods) the gods die. It is not the case thatthe gods die. So, dying is not a good. Consequently, dying is an evil.Many others too hold this belief, that dying is evil because it deprives the deceased of thegoods of life. According to the holders of this belief, Death is bad because the deceased’sentire life would have been better if she/he hadn’t died. For example, Stella Obasanjo’suntimely death was bad for her because: Stella Obasanjon’s entire life would have been betterfor her, had she not died when she did, than it in fact was.The holder of this kind of thought believed that since god can not die so death is an evilB. DEATH AS A MEANS TO HAPPINESSDeath and physical-plane life are stages in an endless journey to perfection, one of thecharacteristic doctrines of many Eastern religions and New Age philosophies is the concept ofreincarnation – that is, “the successive rebirths of a soul into this life, as the soul progressestoward perfection or salvation”. While the idea of a second chance at life might soundattractive, it has no basis in biblical fact. Bible teaches that death is a sleep, “And many ofthose who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some toshame and everlasting contempt.” The prophet clearly states that what sleeps in death is thatpart of man that is placed “in the dust of the earth”. The body sleeps in death, not the spirit.Therefore, If the body merely sleeps in death, then it will be raised again (1 Corinthians15:35-49; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). In the gospel again Jesus describe death as a sleep, atthat time He said to the disciples, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awakenhim” (John 11:11). When they revealed their ignorance of the Lord’s euphemistic language, Heplainly told them, “Lazarus has died” if we view death as a beginning, necessary to prepare fora rebirth and as a change in consciousness through the removal of limitations, then deathbecomes more of a desirable event than a threat because Jesus invites us not to the feasts ofthis world, but the wedding feast of the lamb, the banquet of heaven where life is shared withall.CONCLUSIONDespite the vast amount of evidence gathered over the years that life of some kind continuesafter death; despite the acceptance by many religions that death is but an awakening into newand freer life; in spite of the growing belief in reincarnation; notwithstanding the testimony ofthe wisest Teachers down the ages, we continue to approach that great transition with fear,People are afraid of death while they are not afraid of the cause, which is sin, Jesusencourages us not to fear death, for it has pleased your father to give you the kingdom (Luke12: 32) and on that day there will be no more tears or suffering and death will be no more. Afeast will be prepared for all people and our God will be close and wipe away our tears. FinallyJesus said be like men waiting for their master to return from wedding feast ready to open thedoor as soon as he comes and knocks (Luke 12: 36) once we give listening ear there is noneed to be afraid of death, dearth is not completely evil

UNDERSTANDING MUMUYE CULTURE: BELLE FESTIVAL

Early this year to be precise on 14th January 2016 Belle festival was celebrated by Mumuye people of Zing, we were there with friends to witness the occasion, it was really amazing to them to have been opportune to be there, though they are not Mumuye by tribe they wished to know more about this festival, therefore I penned down this few line about this Mumuye culture Belle Festival in Part one so that others who wishes to have knowledge about this Mumuye culture will have reference point, very soon part two will delve into different part of Mumuye Cultural Festivity

Understanding what is culture

Battista Mondin in his book philosophical anthropology identifies three principle meaning and uses of the term culture; first is the Elitarian sense, here culture signifies knowledge. Thus a person is said to have a vast scientific, artistic or literary culture, or when a person is referred to as “he is very cultured” second is the pedagogical sense, in which culture connote education, formation and cultivation of person. That is the process through which man comes to the full maturation and realization of his own personality and the third is the anthropological sense in which culture signifies the totality of customs, techniques, and values that distinguish a social group, a tribe, a people, a nation. Culture is a strong part of people’s live, it influences their views, their values, their loyalties, their worries and fears, here we explore Mumuye zing chiefdom cultural festivity called Belle festival, it is an annual festivity which usually takes place on January in zing, Belle is Mumuye word which means hunting; hunting as we know is a sport that involves the seeking, pursuing, and killing of wild animals and birds with bow and arrow, in the Mumuye society it is usually men that hunt while the women gather plants and do most domestic chores. Belle festival as a cultural activity is not a hunting exercise but a religious activity that celebrates hunting ceremony and rituals.

Belle festival the nature of celebration

Belle festival is usually organise by the leaders of Mumuye traditional religion called shon lansi, The celebration usually takes place in January but it starts in December by Kpaapo people setting a fire in the bush to burn the ceremonial hill between Yakoko and zing. After some weeks, zing twelve subclans will set their own fire and this is usually in January at the end of guinea corn and millet harvest.

The D-day

On the eve of the festival, the ceremony start with burning of bush around Zandii hill, which will continue burning throughout the night till down, on the D-day The entire shrines are kept clean and neat, The skulls are purified, food and meat are prepared and shared to friends and relatives, about two or three o’clock, both men and women will go to Zandii hill where the ritual and the hunting exercise is performed by the men.

Attire for men and women

To honour the occasion ladies dress in the native beads and in a beautiful native cloths called Lantan, Men dress in the Mumuye traditional shrouds and some in Lanta taking their quivers and bows with them in order to demonstrate how to hunt.

The ritual

The chief priest leads the occasion. He prays and chants the history by calling the names of the ancestors who were before him, the skulls of each chief priest who had died long

ago is brought out for remembrance and reverence. These rites are performed until dusk then everybody will leave the place.

Other activities

Dance presentation: The twelve subclans present traditional dance, they all come in line dancing one after the other starting by Laapo then groups such as Dossa, Diidonko, Koko, Zandii, Danko, Kpana etc will follow.

Shooting and Racing competition: The young ladies run a race to see who is strong enough to win, Men compete to shoot at a target, and it’s during this exercise that a best shooter for the year emerges. Finally as Mumuye you have a role to promote this culture because the well being of your future children depend on it, as we all know every is process; it is not always finished. the ideas written here may not be the final word on Belle Festival so let join our heads together in promoting our culture, although i am responsible for this write work, a great deal of ideas are from Peter Marubitoba Dong et al work (The Mumuye Contemporary history and culture). Relax and wait for part two of this work

The Emergence of New Kpanti Zing And The Challenges Before Him

Life is a struggle and a continual climb if you are to reach your goal. The road of life is rough and rugged, with many stones on the way.

Some months ago Mumuye people struggled against all odds to restore their cultural dignity though a lot of obstacles were on their way, and they never gave up.

Amidst heavy armed military men, mobile police intimidations, they showed courage and determined will to win, they stood their ground to actualize their dreams of choosing the person they wanted to be their new Kpanti Zing, and the Executive Governor of Taraba state confirmed their choice in person of Suleiman Ibrahim Sambo as the new Kpanti Zing.

Today the people will witness the official presentation of Staff of Office to the new Kpanti Zing.
Now that he possess the Kpanti’s power, the new Kpanti Zing should know that power and its exercise are precarious. In the hands of a wise person, power is a saving grace.

In the hands of a fool; power is a source of stress and tension. 
To have entrusted him with this power, Mumuye people see him as the wise one, and under his reign, they hope to acquire nobility, even though they still suffer the consequences of the previous reign.

There is no easy way to freedom; there is always a price to pay, the price of the new Kpanti Zing are the challenges before him now; the expectations from his people and the world.

Expectations of Mumuye People

It was a matter of great sorrow for the Mumuye people that the blatant denial of their cultural development on the global level necessitated their uproar, which brought the new Kpanti to power, the new Kpanti should know that the Mumuye people are determined. 
Your choice, Kpanti Suleiman Ibrahim Sambo by Mumuye people.
Mumuye people believe the new Kpanti is the builder of their future, the restorer of their culture, the developer and custodian of Mumuye traditions. Therefore, if your conduct as Kpanti Zing is determined by the external forces like northern emirs or emirate, then your reign will be empty, devoid of any achievement.

You will be merely an echo of history. Whatever you do, you must protect and uphold Mumuye culture and traditions. 
Some key areas Mumuye people expect you to act with immediate effect is;

• Restoration of Mumuye attires (Lantan dress) at the kpanti’s palace and zing generally,
• Restoration of Mumuye language as the official language of the palace instead of Hausa language,
• Renaming of your village head in Mumuye language instead of foreign language,
• Restoration of Zingan (lion) statue in front of Kpanti’s palace,
• Encourage the learning of Mumuye language from primary to higher institutions of learning and finally
• Promote all Mumuye festival which serves as uniting agent.

General Expectations
The obligation to develop Mumuye land is not just an individual duty; it is a responsibility which obliges each and every person residing in Mumuye land, to develop Mumuye land.
The new Kpanti Zing must unite all his subjects.

There are clear indications that Zing people are divided, some based on religion, some based on political affiliations, some based on the uproar that brought the new Kpanti to power. Therefore, the new Kpanti should develop means of reconciliation among his people whether you were his supporter or not. 
Again, the New Kpanti should shun showing dislike to his none supporters like some of his subjects because a tree cannot make a forest.
Mumuye alone cannot develop Zing. No one should be considered unattractive either in appearance or character. The fundamental human rights of persons are to be respected. 
Subjects should be given freedom of religious worship. This is vital wherever freedom of religion is denied.

Finally, the real image of Kpanti Zing will lay in-between what admirers say and what critics say. Kpanti should be fair enough to treat subjects with dignity.

These are great challenges ahead of the new Kpanti Zing.

Love Feast, the val is on