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Aspects Of Koro Morphology
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Administrative System
The unit of authority starts from the house
hold under its house-head called “Pinwada†or “Ikpunkiyaâ€. The house
hold heads are answerable to the clan-head (ebe-tuko) or ward head. All
the village head are answerable to the chief (Osu) and the house hold
head are also answerable to the village head. The Osu or Ghere-Ghabin is
turbaned like an Emir since colonial days. Title holders have
overlapping roles in the palace, but the most important ones are the
secretary, Sarkin Pada, ‘Bochi-zaki’ (adviser) and Sarkin Dorgarau (in
charge of security). Some of the earliest palace titles are, padawa or
Sopada à The chief of palace officer.
Gaduma/Adogo – The judge.
Unir – ghokuci – Heir to the throne and disciplinary officer.
Tulaci/wuzili – Information or protocol officer.
Madachi – Treasurer and custodian of the armory and calvary
Zhekada – Tax collector
Sarkin muma – Judge over land
The
committed leadership attracted the admiration of Arab and European
writers, and remarked that “they were world famous is governance, better
than European Asian, or American systems. Ibn Batuta, a famous
historian observed in Western and central Sudan in 1352 that;
“The
Negroes possess some admirable qualities. They are seldomly unjust and
have a greater abhorrence of injustice than any other people. Their Emir
shows no mercy to anyone who is guilty of the least act. There is
complete security in their country. Neither traveler nor inhabitant in
it have anything to fear from robbers or men of violence.
They do not confiscate the property of any man… They are careful to observe the hours of prayers.â€
(Okoye 1964:72)
The
traditional institution was not corrupt, it protected the weak, dealt
with criminals particularly aimed robbers and could stop any violent
clash.
However, the Koro system of government was found under
confederal arrangement for sporadic consortium against invaders. In
attempt to account for the semi – autonomous nature of the village
groups, some information simply submitted that they were kingdom
independent of external control and reduced every big settlement into a
kingdom.
Religion and Festivals
The Koros are dominantly
traditional worshippers with every families having its own ancestral
shrine. They also have clan shrines (ebe-tukwo), town shrines and
individual or town cults and sanctuaries (ashmaukuk). Many pre-colonial
polities were purely exercising cultural and religious control over
tribes while excluding non-tribe even in the same settlement. Hence,
individuals and families paid more respect to their kin and cultural cum
religious head. Recently, the influence of Arab traders have firmly
establish the religion of Islam. With the dominance of Islam, the Koros
are very careful to observe the hours of prayers. Be that as it may,
individuals and families paid more allegiance to their kin and cultural
cum religious heads.
1.7 Festivals
Festivals are organized to
unite all their kins form far and near. The chief priest is regarded as
the ruler of the tribe only, but without defined territory. Ceremonies
were some of the arenas for hosting neighbouring groups. Some of these
ceremonial are burials, turbaning marriages and animal festivals e.g
Ghetiri – Nengwezi, Kebere, Ukodogu, Mwamwa, Usor, Ghokonor and of
course, the two most popular festivals “Zhiba – je†“Zhiba meansâ€
‘settlement’ while “je†means ‘beer/ceremony’ put together to mean town
festival. It is usually celebrated after the harvest of guinea corn and
when the first rain has dropped around March. Till today, the Koros are
culturally vibrant. The second intriguing and popular festival is
‘Kuye’.
This festival (Kuye) is celebrated to the remembrance of the
death of “Najajaâ€, the great hunter who emancipated the Koros from the
shackles of invades and led them to their present location. An antelope
must be killed as the festival’s rite, however, some of these festivals
have reduced in importance because of the influence of Western
education.
Geographical Location/Population
The Koros are found in
the federal capital territory Abuja (FCT), Niger and Kaduna state
respectively. In Kaduna state, they live together in Kagarko local
government area (L.G.A). Koro and Jere chiefdoms.
In Niger state,
they live together in Kuta, Suleija and Chanchaga. In the federal
capital territory, they are found or are living in the whole of Bwarri
and Abuja municipal area council (AMAC). The population of the Koro
speakers dwelling in Kaduna was given by Barret (1972) as 45,000. There
was no estimate for the Koros in Kefi local government, Nassarawa state
in Panda, Karu. The population of Koro of Niger state was conservatively
put at 150,000 in 2007.
Economy
Agriculture is the main stay of
Koro economy. Commercial and subsistence farming are what they do most.
Yam and maize are the major thing they sell and it is their major
articles of trade in their place. The land has varying proportion of
Silica, suit, nitrogen and phosphorous. It is alluvial and sticky in the
paddy areas and sandy on the up-lands. They make plant grow well. The
boom in agricultural production is related to the fertility of the
soils. It is interesting to note here that farming in this region is of
great antiquity.
The ethnobotanical and archaeological findings
suggest that farming dates back to 3,000 BC. Therefore, agriculture here
doesn’t possess the rich potentialities that belong to it in the other
regions. Agricultural produce are sold in a weekly market called
“Ija-Koro marketâ€.
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