Yandang culture, history, language and people.

Rev Binos Dauda Yaroe, under the umbrella of the PDP, has defeated the incumbent APC senator, with a margin of 46,612 votes. This is the second time Rev Binos has contested for a political office. The first was in the last held 2015 election, where he contested under the PDM party and managed to place second behind the APC candidate. The indigenous ethnic groups in the southern senatorial zone, such as the Bwatiye and Chamba, are major groups in Adamawa state. The Yandang ethnic group, however, is a minority, having only a few thousand indigenous people. This makes Yandang a minority among minorities. The highest political office ever held by a Yandang person is Local Government chairman of Mayo Belwa, while the highest appointment has been state commissioner. The backing of all the ethnic groups has played a great role in this victory, especially that of the Bwatiye nation who threw their full weight behind the candidate. Adamawa Southern senatorial district comprises of nine loca...

In present day Yandang culture, the first part of the marriage rites observed is the asking price, as stipulated by the bride's family. Afterwards, the monetary bride price is paid alongside the "mahin", (two he-goats and a fully grown ram) and the "wakonang", given to the mother inlaw. This is followed by a set of boxes filled with new clothes for the bride and in some cases new clothes are bought by the groom for the bride's parents too. After paying all these, the groom and his family are still expected to foot all the bills for the wedding ceremony. These include the refreshments for guests, reception venue, decor, bride's wedding gown, her bridesmaids dresses, and  so much more. These expenses are outrageous. I know someone who recently paid a bride price of two hundred and fifty thousand naira, minus the the "mahin" and the "wakonang". I bet that amount took up a sizable chunk of his savings. A lot of these practices are not...

The Gorobi mountain range is one of the most breathtaking landscapes I have ever encountered. During the drive down to Gorobi from Zing, the beauty of my ancestral homeland spoke to me for the first time. Perhaps it was because this time I wasn't visiting as a city dweller compelled by a sense of duty. I wasn't visiting a backwater village with no electricity, no pipe bourne water and no telecommunications networks. It was a visit to the place my ancestors called home. For the first time, I was seeing Gorobi as it truly is. A fortress, a refuge and the testament of the strength of my ancestors. We decided to climb the Goromori mountain, which is the largest in the mountain range. It gets its name from the mori grass which grows wildly around the mountain. Mori grass is used to make brooms, to thatch the roofs of huts and  to make fences. A few days before the climb, a string of unfortunate events trailed me closely, like flies to a cow. Two days before the climb, I went run...