Atyap Chiefdom

Atyap Chiefdom is a Nigerian traditional state of the Atyap people, located on the upper Kaduna River basin of the central Nigeria plateau in the Middle Belt. Its headquarters is at A̠tak Njei, Zangon Kataf, southern Kaduna state, Nigeria.^[1][2]

Atyap Chiefdom A̱byin-tyok A̱tyap
Traditional state
Atyap Chiefdom Location in Nigeria
Coordinates: 9°49′N 8°22′E
Country	Nigeria
State	Kaduna State
LGA	Zangon Kataf
Chiefdom	Atyap
Government
• Type	Elective monarchy
• A̠gwatyap	A̠gwam Dominic Gambo Yahaya (KSM)

People

Main article: Atyap people

The dominant people group in the Chiefdom are the native Atyap people.

History

The Atyap Chiefdom was created in 1995. In 2007, it was upɡraded to a First Class status.^[3]

Government

The Atyap Chiefdom is run by the Atyap Traditional Council,^[4] with the A̠gwatyap as its head.

Administrative divisions

Districts

The Kaduna state Ministry of Local Government Affairs gave its number of Existing Districts as 16, Approved Districts as five and Approved Village Units as 61.^[5]

These are the districts between 1995 and 2017:^[6]

S/N	Tyap indigenous name	Hausa exogenous name
1	A̠buyap	Ungwar Rohogo
2	Á̠nietcen-A̱fakan	Zangon Urban
3	A̠shong A̠shyui	Jankasa
4	Bafoi Ka̠nai	Gora Bafai
5	Cen-A̠koo; also Zama A̠won
6	Gan Ka̠nai	Gora Gan
7	Jei (Chiefdom Head district)	Unɡwar Gaiya
8	Ka̠nai Mali; also A̠tsung A̠byek	Gora Gida
9	Makomurum	Kibori
10	Mancong	Magadan Wuka
11	Mazaki	Gidan Zaki
12	Ma̠nyi A̠ghyui	Kigudu
13	Sop-A̠koo	Mabushi Kataf
14	Shilyam, also Kwakhwu
15	Taligan (A̠takligan), also A̠ga̠mi	Magamiya
16	Zonzon	Zonzon Gora

However, these are the current five Government-Approved Districts from 2017 onwards, trimmed down by the incumbent Kaduna State governor Nasir Elrufai who accordingly said, as reported by Premium Times, Nigeria that the committee set up to address the district administration in the state concluded that the proliferation of the number of districts from the pre-2001 era had created a financial burden for Local Government Councils. Hence, their reversal back to the pre-2001 era. Viz:

S/N	Tyap indigenous name	Hausa exoganous name
1	Á̠nietcen-A̱fakan	Zangon Urban
2	Jei (Chiefdom Head-district)	Ungwar Gaiya
3	Ka̠nai	Gora
4	Zonzon	Zonzon Gora

Headquarters

The headquarters of the Atyap Chiefdom is Atak Njei, where the Agwatyap's palace (Tyap: Magwatyap) is located.^[7]

Of recent, there had been moves by the Nasir el-Rufai-led Kaduna State government to question the locating of the palace in that very region located at the outskirts of the Hausa-Fulani-Kanuri dominated town of Zangon Kataf (Tyap: Á̠nietcen-A̱fakan), a move which has strongly been countered by the Atyap Community Development Association (ACDA).^[7]

Rulership

Royal houses

Atyap Chiefdom consists of four royal houses divided according to the four clans of the Atyap people, namely:

S/N	Clan	Subclan
1	A̠gbaat	• A̠kpaisa • Jei • A̠kwak
2	A̠minyam	• A̠fakan • A̠son
3	A̠ku
4	A̠shokwa

Rulers

The ruling monarchs of the Atyap Chiefdom are known as A̠gwatyap.^[8]

The word is derived from these two Tyap words: a̱gwam (i.e. a monarch) and A̱tyap (i.e. after the Atyap people) and literally means "monarch of the Atyap".^[6]

List of rulers

The names of these rulers who reigned from 1995 till date are as follows:

Start	End	Ruler
1995	2005	HRH A̠gwam Ba̠la A̠de Da̠uke (JP), Agwatyap I
2005	April 6, 2016	HRH A̱gwam Dr. Harrison Yusuf Bunggwon (FNSE), A̠gwatyap II
November 12, 2016	Date	HRH A̱gwam Dominic Gambo Yahaya (KSM), Agwatyap III[9][8]

See also

• Abwoi religion
• Ayet Atyap annual cultural festival
• Southern Kaduna
• The 1992 Zangon Kataf crises