The major tribes in Plateau State are the ones that are originally aligned to the history of the state, and many of these tribes speak the major languages and display the dominant cultural practices of Plateau.
Plateau State is the twelfth-largest Nigerian state. It’s located near the center of Nigeria and includes a range of hills surrounding the Jos Plateau, its capital, and the entire plateau itself. Plateau State is described as “The Home of Peace and Tourism”. With natural formations of rocks, hills and waterfalls, it derives its name from the Jos Plateau and has a population of around 3.5 million people.
Plateau State is located in the North Central Zone out of the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. With an area of 26,899 square kilometers, the state has an estimated population of about three million people. It is located between latitude 8°24′ N and 10°30′ N and longitude 8°32′ E and 10°38′ E. The state is named after the Jos Plateau, a mountainous area in the north of the state with rock formations.
The Jos Plateau is thought to be an area of younger granite which was intruded through an area of older granite rock, making up the surrounding states. These “younger” granites are thought to be about 160 million years old. This creates the unusual scenery of the Jos Plateau. There are numerous hillocks with gentle slopes emerging from the ground like mushrooms scattered with huge boulders.
The Major Tribes in Plateau State
Here are the major tribes in Plateau State which are many including you are not aware of. They are not so many but they are the original ethnic backgrounds of the state:
Jukun Tribe
The tribe is one of the many minority tribes in Plateau state. The peace-loving people of Jukun are farmers and are known to practice Islam and Christianity. Wrappers are tied by men and women of this tribe. Also, meals are made from locally processed millet.
Angas Tribe
The Angas tribe is closely related to the Kanuri tribe. This tribe has a lot of cultures that are generally practiced in Africa. It is believed that this tribe migrated from modern-day plateau state. The people of Angas have an old tradition of naming their children according to the situation surrounding the birth. Also, it is the responsibility of the grandfather and sometimes the father to name a new baby. According to ancient Angas tradition, women do not name their children unless permitted by their husbands. The Angas people are also known to bestrode their children long before they understand what marriage is.
Farming is the major occupation of this predominantly Christian tribe. Although the Angas people are Christians, they dress just like the Hausa Muslims
Tiv Tribe
This tribe is a minority tribe in Nigeria. It is, however, one of the most popular tribes. There are over 3.5 million Nigerians from this tribe. Although the majority of the Tiv people are found in Benue, a handful of them occupy parts of Plateau state.
This tribe is a Christian tribe. Also, farming and trading are the major occupations of this people. Meals are usually a combination of Soup and Tuwo.
Ankwei Tribe
The Ankwei tribe is a very small tribe in Plateau state. They are mainly horsemen. The people of this tribe are known for their skillful artworks. They are Christians and are very similar to the other northerners in their modes of dressing, food, and lifestyle.
Rukuba Tribe
The Rukuba people occupy Bassa local government area in Plateau state. They are neighbors with the Irigwe people are always in constant fights over ownership of lands and properties.
Men and women from Rukuba dress like the northern Muslims and eat foods made from millet and maize.
Kanuri Tribe
The Kanuri tribe is a prominent tribe in northern Nigeria. The people of this tribe were great horsemen in the ancient Bornu-Kanem Empire. The Kanuris in Plateau state migrated from Bornu state. These people are Muslims and farm for a living. They dress and feed just like the Hausas.
Ron Tribe
The Ron people occupy Bokkos local government área of plateau state. They have a population of 115,000 people. The people of Ron share borders with the Kulere and Mushere people. They are called “Chala” by their neighbors.
The Ron people are similar to the other northerners in their culture, dressing and food. They are Christians and have farming as their major occupation.
Miango Tribe
Miango tribe occupies the Bassa local government área of Plateau state. The people of this tribe are very friendly people. The miango people number a little over 20,000. They have always had a religion-based crisis because of the presence of Christians and Muslims in almost equal numbers.
The miango people are farmers and have adopted quite a number of Hausa customs.
Anagua tribe
The Anagua people are the first residents of present-day Jos. According to history, the Anagua tribe defended the city of Jos against the jihadists in the 19th century. History has it that the Emir of Bauchi attacked them with about 4000 men. The Anagua tribe called their other neighboring tribes together and successfully protected Jos against Islamic attack.
The Anagua tribe is both disadvantaged both politically, numerically and economically. They are predominantly Christians and are farmers by profession.
Read Also: The Most Educated Tribes in Nigeria
Afizere Tribe
The people of Afizere are also known as Jarawa and are found in modern-day Jos. They occupy Jos east and Jos north local government areas. They have their roots in Kaduna and migrated to Jos in three phases. The people of this tribe dress like the Hausas although they are not Hausa. They are a peaceful tribe. In pre-colonial times, the Afizere people loved living on hills. This they believed helped them against the Jihadist invasions of the Fulani.
The Afizere people are basically hunters and practice pastoral farming.
Kwalla Tribe
The kwalla tribe occupies part of present-day Jos in Plateau state. The people of Kwalla are farmers and have Christianity and Islam as their major religions. Food, culture, and dressing of the people of this tribe is similar to that of the average northern tribe
Irigwe Tribe
The Irigwe people occupy the Bassa and Barakin Ladi local government areas of Plateau state. They are located about 20 miles from Jos. These people have a population of about 70,000 people. Before contact with Europeans, lots of people in Irigwe practiced polyandry. However, the arrival of Christianity changed this practice.
Farming and trading are the major occupations of this people.
Berom Tribe
The people of Berom occupy four local government areas in Plateau state. Local government areas occupied by this tribe are Riyom, Jos North, Jos south, and Barkin Ladi.
The people of Berom speak the Berom language which is not similar to the Hausa language. This Christianity dominated tribe has farming as its major occupation.
I want to understand how Jukun became a major tribe in plateau while tribes like Mwaghavul and Taroh are not even mentioned
You mention tiv and kanuri but u could not mention tarok. When did tiv and kanuri become indigene of plateau state?. The poster is a muslim that is why he don’t want to mention tarok because tarok doesn’t have a single mosque in langtang south.