The Effect of Indyer as a Means of Communication Among the Tiv People of Vandeikya Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract

Communication used to form a crucial part of the constituents of social administration of the Tiv society. The Tiv communication as a means of passing information or knowledge from one person or a group of persons to another through the Tiv language, music, dance, symbols and signs was predicated chiefly upon the Tiv indigenous Religious canon. Communication was and is still one of the important aspects of the Tiv social setting among the Kunav Mega Clan of the Tiv people who used different ways to pass information from one entity to another among the populace. Consequently, due to the importance of communication to the people, technological innovations were drastically improved to invent better means or devices of communication and Indyer was invented from the earlier Gbagede and Ilyu. The Indyer was paramount among different means of communication among the Tiv people of Vandeikya and as such any message coming from the beating of Indyer (Indyer í Tan or Kuhan) was considered with grave seriousness. The study looks at the effect of Indyer as a means of communication among the Tiv people of Vandeikya local government area of Benue state, Nigeria. A sample of 363 Tiv people of Vandeikya was drawn using random sampling technique. Apparently, mean and standard deviation were used in answering the research questions while Chi-Square was used in testing the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study discovered that Indyer has significant effect as a mean of communication among the Tiv people of Vandeikya Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria however, there are potential challenges affecting it. It was recommended that the Federal Government of Nigeria should discard the International Intellectual Property Laws such as The Paris Convention and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPs) and develop its IP laws to be in conformity with indigenous practices and what is obtainable in the Nigerian folds and Christian converts and leaders should accept Indyer as a technological device not a fetish component.