The Next Tor Tiv: Benue Assembly Passes Council Of Chiefs and Traditional Councils Amendment Bill, 2016

The long awaited appointment of the Tiv Paramount ruler, Tor Tiv the fifth, may soon come to an end as the Benue State House of Assembly today passed the bill for a law to make provisions for the Amendment of Benue State Council of Chiefs and Traditional Councils,  2016.The passage followed two days of marathon sessions of the House and clause by clause consideration of the bill in the Committee of the Whole chaired by the Speaker, Mr. Terkimbi Ikyange. Shortly before the passage, the Assembly had resolved to refer the issue of determing the true descendants of the two major component units of Tiv ie Ichongo and Ipusu back to the the Supreme Council of the Tiv people known as “Ijir Tamen”  so as to guarantee peaceful coexisgence.By this resolution, Schedule 3 to Section 16 of the proposed amendment to the Council of Chiefs and Traditional Councils bill has been reduced to Ichongo and Ipusu so that their component units (descendants) will be determined by the Supreme Council of the Tiv people known as the “Ijir Tamen” to guarantee peaceful coexistence. Furthermore,  the State lawmakers  agreed that the Selection  Committee for the Tor Tiv stool is to comprise of Six  First Class Chiefs, 14  Second Class Chiefs and the 28  Third Class Chiefs in Tiv land to bring the total number of the Committee members to 48 for fair and equitable representation in line with the Tiv custom and tradition.The House took these decision today while debating the report of its joint committee on Local Government, Security and Chieftaincy Affairs and Judiciary, Ethics and Privileges on the Benue State Council of Chiefs and Traditional Councils amendment bill.Speaker, Mr. Terkimbi Ikyange who read the resolutions of the House stated that the sharing formula where the two Tiv sons coexist should be between Ichongo and Ipusu, and not by geopolitical division or Electoral Constituencies.Mr. Ikyange also urged the Idoma Area Traditional Council to key into the restructuring of the traditional stools in the state especially as it concerns the creation of a district for each Council ward which is meant to broaden grassroots participation rather than insisting on the original 22 districts that existed in Idoma land during the colonial era.In a lead debate, Co- chairman of the Committee, Mr. Benjamin Nungwa among other things  said that Schedule 3 of Section 16 (1) which has to do with the descendants of Ichongo and Ipusu has generated unhealthy debate capable of causing disharmony in Tiv nation.