Traditional state

Wukari Federation
Location in Nigeria

Coordinates: 7°51′N 9°47′E / 7.850°N 9.783°E

Country
Nigeria

State
Taraba State
Government

• Aku Uka
Shekarau Angyu Masa-Ibi Kuvyon II
The Wukari Federation is a traditional state in
Nigeria, a successor to the Kwararafa state of the
Jukun people. The state is based in the town of
Wukari in Taraba State, in the south of the Benue
River basin. The ruler takes the title "Aku Uka".
Early history

Wukari Federation
Federation

←
c. 1840–c. 1900

→
Capital
Wukari

Languages
Jukun Takum language

Political structure
Federation

Historical era

Middle Ages
•

Established
c. 1840
•

Disestablished
c. 1900

The Jukun were established in Wukari as early as the
17th century.[1]
The town was one of the southern
centers on a trading route that connected via Bauchi
to the northern states of Katsina, Kano and Bornu.
Large caravans would bring goods transported from
north of the Sahara, exchanging them for slaves, salt
and ivory.[2]

It is debatable whether the Jukun were ever the
military leaders of the broader Kwararafa state, as is
sometimes claimed, or whether the Aku's role was
more a symbolic or ritual leadership of the different
peoples of the Benue river basin.[3]
Clearly the Aku
Uka of Wukari had considerable influence. For
example, in 1780 the leader of a group of migrants
from Bornu felt it necessary to apply to the Aku Uka
for endorsement and recognition of his rule over
their new settlement at Lafia, to the northwest. The
Aku Uka agreed and gave him the title of Sarkin Lafia
Bare-Bari.[4]

Benue river basin

Wukari is near the confluence of
the Donga and Benue rivers, west of the Donga and
south of the Benue.
The Aku Uka of Wukari became the regional power in
the 1840s after the once-powerful Kwararafa state
had been destroyed during the Fulani jihad (1804–
1810) and its aftermath.[1]
The consolidation of
Wukari as an independent state may have been given
impetus by pressure from the Chamba people, who
were pushing westward down the Benue at that time.
[3]

When the British incorporated the state into the
protectorate of Nigeria around 1900, it was multi-
ethnic, including Tiv and Moslem Hausa-Fulani
people as well as the original Jukun.[1]
The British
delegated much authority to traditional rulers in the
Northern Region. In 1958 the Aku Uka of Wukari was
one of four such rulers serving as a minister without
portfolio in the Executive Council of the region, the
others being the Sultan of Sokoto, Emir of Katsina
and Emir of Kano.[5]

Religion
Traditional Jukun beliefs and rituals are complex,
with unique elements. For example, they thought that
in their migration from Yemen to Kwararafa around
596 AD they were assisted by giant crocodiles, who
were therefore protected, and still have a shrine in
the Marmara pond at Wukari.[6]
The Jukun religion
includes belief in the divine right of kingship, with the
Aku Uka being considered son of a god. Of several
gods, the sun god is paramount. The religion
includes belief in communicating with the souls of
the dead.[7]
These similarities to Egyptian beliefs have led some
anthropologists to speculate that the Jukun originally
came from Sudan.[7]
The Kuteb people, who speak a
related language and live just to the south of the
Jukun, have a tradition that they migrated from Egypt
about a thousand years ago, but their religion is very
different.[8]

The Wukari people adhered to their traditional
religion for many years after loss of independence,
and some still practice it. The first Christian
missionaries arrived in 1905, and the first mission
station was opened on 29 May 1906. In 1914 one of
the missionaries at the station, Rev. W. Maxwell,
published the St. Mark's gospel in the Jukun dialect of
Wukari Wapan. Progress was slow, with a small
congregation and no indigenous pastors as late as
the 1950s.[9]
Although many of the Jukun are now
Christian, some are animist and some are Moslem.
[10][11] The Aku Uka, Shekarau Angyu Masa Ibi is a
Christian and worships in the Chapel established in
the Palace by The Christian Reformed Church of
Nigeria (CRCN).[citation needed]
Recent times
Wukari is multi-ethnic. While the Jukun consider that
it is their traditional homeland, other ethnic groups
including the Tiv and Hausa have been present for
over 200 years.[12]
In the 1910s, the colonial
authorities encouraged immigration of Tivs to the
region, although they were considered an "inferior
group" with no history of central state
administration, and were placed under the authority
of the Jukun Aku Uka. Continued Tiv expansion into
Wukari was due in part to population pressure, and
in part to unsustainable slash-and-burn farming
methods.[13]
In the 19th century, the Tiv allied with the Jukun to
fight the Hausa/Fulani.[14]
More recently, the Tiv and
the Hausa have at times allied against the Jukun.
However, under the First Republic (1963–1966), the
Jukun and Hausa supported the Northern People's
Congress, while the Tiv supported the rival United
Middle Belt Congress, often leading to violent
conflict. During the Second Republic (1979–1983)
both the Tiv and the Jukun supported the National
Party of Nigeria.[15]

There were clashes in 1990 and 1991 related to
whether Wukari should become part of Tiv-
dominated Benue State or Jukun-majority Taraba
State. In June 1992, a Jukun member of the Taraba
state assembly, the only woman, was assassinated.
The Jukun accused the Tiv of the murder, and further
violence broke out. During this period, as many as
5,000 people may have been killed and many more
forced to move.
[15] In 2001 and 2002 there were
again clashes between the Jukun, Tiv, Kuteb and
Fulani people of the Federation. The Aku Uka of
Wukari, Dr. Shekarau Angyu Masa-Ibi Kuvyo II, was
reported as saying "They (the Tiv) came here to farm;
we allowed them, gave them chieftaincy titles... Now
that their population has increased, they believe they
are many enough to colonise us."[16]

In August 2010 there was further fighting, this time
along religious rather than ethnic lines. Christians
disputed the construction of a mosque at the Wukari
Police divisional headquarters, and started rioting a
few days before a planned visit of the Moslem Sultan
of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar III.[17]
Lives
were lost and property destroyed.[18]
The Aku Uka of
Wukari and chairman of the Taraba State Traditional
Council, Dr. Shakaru Angyu, had reportedly warned
the Area Commander against the building of the
mosque, which was destroyed during the
disturbances.[19]

On a more positive note, Wukari traditions such as
the rituals of the crocodile shrine are of interest to
tourists.[6]
The annual Nwonyo Fishing Festival,
which has its origins in 1826, includes boat and
canoe racing, diving, swimming, and traditional
dancing, and there is a prize for the person who
catches the heaviest fish.[20]
The competition takes
place at the Nwonyo lake, said to have been
discovered in 1816 by the founder of Ibi, Buba
Wurbo, and the first public festival was held during
the reign of Abgumanu II (1903–1915).[21] After a
ritual to appease the gods of the river, when the
fishing context began in April 2010 the winner caught
a fish weighing 318 kg.[22]
Rulers
Jukun rulers of the Wukari Federation, with title "Aku
Uka", were:[23]

Start
End
Ruler
1833
1845
Zikenyu Tsokwa Tasefu

1845
1860
Agbumanu I Agbu

1860
1871
Ashumanu II Jibo Kindonya

1871
1903
Awudumanu I Abite

1903
1915
Agbumanu II Agbunshu

1915
1927
Ashumanu III Ali

1927
1940
Agbumanu III Amadu

1940
1945
Ashumanu IV Angyu Masa Ibi

1945
May 1960
Agbumanu IV Atoshi

1960
1970
Ashumanu V Adi Byewi

1970
1974
Awudumanu II Abe Ali

1974
1976
Agbumanu V Adda Ali

1976
Shekarau Angyu Masa Ibi Kuvyon II

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wukari_Federation

Cc;
Odumchi, fulaman198, Bigfrancis21 et Lalasticlala

Jukun people are dangerous and hard fighters, they fights like wonded lions.