Introduction

Since at least from the time of Nigerian independence, the Margi ethnic groups have been and are still neighbors with the following ethnic groups: Kilba, Bura, Matakam, Higi, Sukur, and Wula. As mentioned earlier, the Fulani and Kanuri ethnic groups are the majorities in the two states where the Margi reside, and they live in the major towns of Yola and Maiduguri, with a few Hausa in each city. This is not to say that there not any Kanuri, Fulani or Hausas living alongside the Margi ethnic group in certain Margi towns or villages. But what it means is that these groups that are considered Margi neighbors, including groups both large and small, have their own towns and villages even if they share common geographical vicinity with the Margi ethnic group.

The first two, the Kilba and Bura ethnic groups, share words that have common meaning with the Margi. There is no definitive evidence that any two of them have lived together. But because of the geographical proximity which all the groups share, they become closer and tend to do things together. The ethnic groups cooperate with each other, especially when they find themselves in distant cities of Nigeria; I witnessed such cooperation among them when I was staying with my uncle in Kaduna in the 1970s. Like the Margi ethnic group, some of the Margi neighbors speak an Afro-Asiatic language belonging to the Chadic group of languages.

The Kilba Ethnic Group

The Margi and Kilba probably lived together or at least in close proximity with each other starting a long time ago. This is based on oral folklore passed down in each group that tells of the past in which the ancestors of the two groups were cousins who then got separated a long time ago. The Margi call them “bzir huba,” a phrase that means “the son removed” in Margi. Legend has it that, when both groups were still together, the ancestor of the Kilba group was bad and he was ordered removed from the group, hence the Margi name for them. Each ethnic group jokingly calls the other mava, meaning slave, but this claim has never been substantiated, even though it continues in use even today. There is a striking similarity between both languages.

The Higi Ethnic Group

Previously, I indicated that there are Margi called the Margi Wandala in the Republic of Cameroon. Just like the Margi ethnic group, another section of the Higi ethnic group is still residing in the Republic of Cameroon. The Cameroon Higi are called Kapsiki (van Beek, 1987: 157; De Bruijn, Van Dijk, and Gewald, 2007: 115). C. K. Meek opines that Higi is a Margi word meaning aboriginals or locust (Meek 1931: 262); but I have never heard it used in either way when growing up and I do not think Higi is a Margi word. The Higi ethnic group lives mainly in the towns of Michika and Baza in Adamawa state. The two towns are almost surrounded by the Margi towns and villages. Scholars like D. Barreteau (1984) went as far as classifying Kapsiki/Higi under the Margi group; there is no evidence that my informants know of to suggest that this is a correct classification. Yet most of the Kapsiki/Higi thinks that they originate from Gudur (Barreteau, 1984: 168), and this is the same Gudur the Birdling clan of the Margi ethnic group claims to have originated from.

Unlike the “teasing-cousin” relationship of the Margi with the Kilba, relations between the Margi and the Higi can be strained. A fresh graduate from the University of Oxford, who supervised the Northern Cameroons Plebiscite in the area of the Margi and their neighbors, put it this way: “So far I have been appalled by the contrast in attitude to a stranger in Higi and Margi lands. The Margi are embarrassingly generous. Among the Higi we have to struggle to obtain every morsel” (Cooper, 2010: 17).

Bura Ethnic Group

This is the ethnic group the church of the Brethren Missionaries first settled among in 1923. Therefore they are highly influenced by the missionaries, and a highly educated ethnic group. But unlike the Margi, where only half reside in Borno state, the Bura ethnic group primarily resides in Borno state, with only one Bura town of Garkida in Adamawa state. This is because of their proximity to the Borno. The group is also known as Pabir or Babur. The Bura language is closely related to Margi; the group lives in small, autonomous villages; and they have many very similar cultural characteristics with the Margi (Gates Jr. and Appiah, 2010: 210; Mshelia 2010).

Matakam or Mafa Ethnic Group

Just like the Higi, and Margi ethnic groups, the Matakam or Mafa are known by different names in Nigeria and Cameroon - as Matakam in Nigeria, and as Mafa in Cameroon. In fact, though, in Nigeria, they consider the name Matakam as an insult. Based on my interviews with my informants, all agreed that the Matakam ethnic group started to come to Gulak in 1958, crossing the Mandara mountains from border towns in Cameroon. They travelled to Margi towns to look for farm work, and gradually they started to live in Margi towns. Their general characteristic is that they prefer living around the town or the village market area, simply because they specialize in preparing pito, a local brew known to be their native beer, and then to sell it on market days. Also many of the Matakam men engage in the animal butchering trade, so they are mostly meat sellers to the Margi ethnic group on the open market days.

Wula Ethnic Group

The Wula ethnic group is still mostly in the Mandara Mountains, with only about 1/3 of them that have come out to the plains or mountain slope. The Birdling clan of the Margi ethnic group claims to descend from this ethnic group. In fact the word ‘Wula’ might have been the ancestor name of the family patriarch that led them into the Mandara mountains when they left the Lake Chad area. Their way of life is very similar to the Margi ethnic group.

Sukur Ethnic Group

There are quite a few studies written on the Sukur ethnic group. In fact their ancestral homes in the Mandara mountains received an inscription in 1999, as a UNESCO World Heritage site (http://whc.unorgesco./en/list/938). They live in the Mandara mountains, but a lot of families have moved out of the mountains and are settled on the mountain slope. Just like the Birdling clan, the Medugu Kirngu clan claim to have paternally descended from the Sukur ethnic group. Their way of life is identical to that of Margi and they all have lived in the mountains in different enclaves.