DISCOVERING ZUMA IN BWARI AREA COUNCIL

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ZUMA which means "SET ASIDE" refers to a group of people (selected people) from Bwari to settle there for a particular purpose. The purpose for which these selected people from Bwari town had to settle in Zuma was very special in that they were given a special assignment which to the people themselves was a special task which was in itself so risky. Thus their main purpose was to defend Bwari (as their fatherland) against external aggression or attacks from other enemies.

According to the historical data so far obtained the first settler in Zuma who called KAURA YAKO. He was a very great hunter and a brave warrior. This account for the reason why he was given this noble task of defending Bwari with all his might.               

As one of the duty of the people of Zuma was to spy and monitor any aggression against Bwari, once there is any such attack or aggression against Bwari town the people of Zuma will capture the aggressors and then bring them to the then chief of Bwari called ZAKOYI TAYEBEBE who will declare them as slaves under Bwari.

Some of these salves still exist in Bwari, but cannot be easily identified because it is a thing of the past and with the advent of civilization and Christianity it is a taboo to trace a person’s origin as belonging to salve background. But for our forefathers, it was a sign of authority, dignity and personality to have as many slaves as possible thus depicting the traditional and cultural heritage of Zuma in particular and Bwari in general. The relationship between Bwari and Zuma is that the then chief of Bwari  ZAKOYI TAYABEBE sent his brother KAURA YAKO to settle in the place and ZAKOYI TAYEBEBE himself  was the one who named  the village now called Zuma, that is to say the selected people who are “Set Aside". KAURA YAKO was the first village head (chief) of Zuma from the historical perspective the following people had bad been so far enthroned as the village heads (chiefs) of Zuma in that order. 

1.         Kaura Yako

2.         Gyamgbe Eye

3.         Yamtolo Kaura

4.         Vyanyagye Gyamgbe

5.         Ezhibo Y amtolo

6.         Jezhi Vyanyagye

7.         Knudanyi Jezhi

8.         Peter Kudayi

LOCATION OF ZUMA: Zuma is a part of located on the Eastern part of Bwari town just about three, kilometers, Initially the first people (that is KAURA YAKO and his men) settled on the hills for strategic reasons particularly in the light of carrying on their spy mission in the protection and prevention of enemies who may likely wage a war against Bwari.

They were so powerful and brave that they always overpowered all enemies that were against the area and will always capture the invaders. Once captured the invaders were handed over to the chief of Bwari who in turn made them slaves.

CHIEFTAINCY AFFAIRS IN ZUMA (RULERSHIP)

The chieftaincy title in Zuma is a very strong one and assumes a powerful position in" the whole of Bwari Area Council. Thus, nobody is always willing to become the chief of Zuma because of its Royal staff and the great historical antecedent attached to it.

Consequently any chief (village head) enthroned as a leader of Zuma is designated, or given the title of MAICHI which means a powerful ruler with great and significant responsibilities who deserves to be honoured.

Traditionally, chieftaincy affairs between Bwari and Zuuma are operated in a cordial and peaceful atmosphere especially as Zuma is a place of reference and protection for any chief to be installed in Bwari. 

After installing any chief of Bwari by Suleja (the Abuja) Emirate Council, the new chief will first of all go to Okwa in Niger state where certain traditional rites will be performed and from there the chief will be taken to ZUMA up a hill where all the former chiefs of Zuma are buried in order to pay homage to the death chiefs until the 7th day when the chief will go to Bwari for the purpose of ascending his throne in Bwari. 

It is worthy to note that any chief riding on a horse to Zuma village and this includes the chief of Bwari must descend from the horse and move on foot to enter Zuma town. This is because of the traditional respect which is accorded to Zuma in the propagation of the cultural heritage of the people of Bwari and its environs in general and Zuma in particular. 

Therefore since tradition was made for man and not man for tradition, the position of Zuma stands unique and has never been challenged in any form or substance given its ancient realities as a place where warriors are found for the basic purpose of preserving, protecting and promoting the pride of Bwari chiefdom and its inherent traditional and cultural values.

TRADITIONAL SACRIFICES AND RITUALS      

Owing to the cordial relationship that exists between Zuma and Bwari, there certain traditional sacrifices and rituals that are observed on are observed on a collective basis. The purpose of the sacrifices and rituals and/or festivals is to cement the cordial relationship that the two people (Znufna and Bwari) are one and the same person. 

Some of the most important traditional sacrifices are as follows:

1. TADA PEI:- This is usually observed every year up the hill "Tada Pei" at Zuma. The procedure and operation of these rituals is very special. Bwari will provide every necessary item for the sacrifice for example dog, guinea corn, palm oil etc at Tada Pei hill. Thereafter the people will be gathered up the hill under the leadership of a high priest who is usually from Zuma. The sacrifices will, be carried out by the high priest who will call upon the ancestors and the gods of the land to provide them with good health, prosperity, happy marriages, children, good harvest, and that no epidemic shall befall the people like leprosy, chicken pox, missiles, etc. They will also call upon the gods to protect the land against any unnatural death. Natural calamities and plaques, e.g locust invasion.

Finally after the sacrifice, and the people have been descended the hill, or are at their homes, they usually witness a heavy rain an indication or evidence that their prayers or sacrifices have been answered and accepted as, the case may be by their ancestors.

Furthermore, it should be noted that the surrounding of the, Tada Pei hill is characterized by a lot of grass. But interestingly a single person who sets fire to burn the grass will not succeed as the grass will not be burnt. But when people are gathered to together to burn the grass it is somebody from Zuma that will be the first person to set fire on the grass, before the grass burning exercise can be commenced by everybody: There is a high stone planted up the TadaPei hill which is the Zenith paint of the hill where all rituals are performed. It has remained there till date.

2. ZHIBAJE: This is also an annual festival which is observed by both Bwari and Zuma people. The procedure for its observation is that; firstly the people of Bwari will provide some guinea corn, prepare some local liquor and send to Zuma; together with a dog which will be slaughtered up the hill at Zuma for purpose of offering some sacrifices to the ancestors.

Thereafter the dog will be prepared in a special way then part of it with some liquor and a special kind of herbs will be sent to Bwari in acknowledgement of the fact that the rituals had been performed. Then the chief of Bwari will now invite the people of the two areas (Bwari and Zuma) to bring whatever thing they have then there will be declared some days in which there will be drinking, eating and dancing and some special masquerades will be exhibited to entertain the people.

3. HUNTING FESTIVAL: This is a yearly event called (Esha) and it is usually done during the dry season. This is done together with hunters from other neighbouring villages like Ushafa, Shere, Iguh etc. The most outstanding characteristic or feature about this festival is that during the festival, any dispute between two hunters as to whose dog caught a particular animal or which hunter is the first to shoot the animal and the dispute cannot be resolved or proved abortive, it is only a person from Zuma that will be asked to pick up the animal. This is because people from Zuma are usually the high priests and therefore respect and honour is accorded to them in the light of this prominent position and secondly the

people of Zuma are exempted from paying market revenue to the Bwari Emirate Council.

4. MARKET FESTIVAL: This is usually observed on very special occasions whose purpose is to provide a healthy atmosphere for the market and to enable the people to make gains and profits on their produce. As usual the ritual involved here is performed by Zuma people where the high priest

Will also come from. A fowl will be provided by the chief of Bwari for the performance of the, rituals in Bwari market which is the central market.

Although the people of Zuma have their own Local Market, this sacrifice is performed in Bwari market collectively.             

5. MARRIAGE:- Marriage being a divine institution created by God is highly respected and honoured among the people of Zuma. There is a high degree of love existing within the sons and daughters of Zuma thereby giving them the opportunity to marry among themselves. However, there also exist an inter-village marriage between Zuma youths and those of other villages. There is no restriction for them to marry from other villages.

6. OCCUPATION:- The major occupation of the people of Zuma is agriculture, and their main crops are Rice, Cocoyam, Banana, Hungary rice, Ground Nut, Guinea Corn, Maize, Yam, Cassava etc. Another ancillary occupation of the Zuma people is hunting.        

7. LAND BOUNDARY:- The people of Zuma have no specific boundary with Bwari because they are all owners of the same land as fathers and sons.

But Zuman have their common boundary with Gaba people. However, even the land now occupied by Gaba people is basically owned by Zuma, also even the primary school and health centre which is named after Gaba is located in Zuma land.

The village also shares another boundary with Dnako. Apart from this the land of Zuma stretches as far as Kaduna State where the other boundary is found. Furthermore, they share another boundary with Barangoni.

CONCLUSION:- In the days of KAURA YAKO and other prominent warriors of Zuma, they could see their enemies in a physical point of view and therefore rise up to fight a physical battle (in which they will always subdue their enemies). But today, we see our enemies from a spiritual perspective. Thus these are people who do not want the growth, success and progress of Zuma in any form and wants to claim as theirs what belongs to Zuma. It is on this note that we are calling on all the people of Zuma, both youths and the elderly to stand up to this challenge and fight for their rights.

In order to stand-up to this task, our only weapon is UNITY, for where there is unity, there is peace. Consequently we must have a united front and unity of purpose in order to collectively fight our common enemies and with this spirit of unity God will surely be our side because unity is power.