Dadiya language
Dadiya (Dadiya, Loodiya) is one of the Savanna languages of northeastern Nigeria. They are found in Gombe, Adamawa & Taraba state. The Dadiya people of Gombe State are located at Balanga south of Balanga local government of Gombe state.
| Dadiya | |
|---|---|
| Lodiya | |
| Native to | Northern Nigeria |
Native speakers | 70,000 (2014)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | dbd |
| Glottolog | dadi1249 |
The National Association of the Dadiya people is known as DACODA which is constituted by the tribal elders of Dadiya and also the Dadiya youth foundation which is constituted by the youth of Dadiya so as DAYODA. The Dadiya peoples' king/ruler is identified as the Folo Dadiya he lives in the Headquarters of Dadiya land Bambam. The Dadiya people are friendly and accommodating, They live together with other tribes in peace in Bambam including the Waja tribe, Tula, cham and Tangale tribe.
Most of Dadiya settlements are named after "Loo" which means House, loose also known as anguwan magaji, lookwila, lookulakuli, loogolwa, looja, lofiyo, lobasi, loofa, loodib, loobware other settlements are kafin bawa, Dogon dutse, Mai tunku, and others have no road; the land is bordered by Kaltungo, Tula, Cham, etc.
Dadiya people have festivals which they use to display their culture, some are done every year while some once in a while like Yeelin, "KAL" which occur once in seven years.
Dadiya people are known to be formers because of their mass and fertile land, they farm groundnut, rice, maize, beans, etc because the land is surrounded by rocks and mountains the Dadiya people believe that the land is blessed with lots of mineral resources.
The Dadiya people have no access road that connects the villages. The Nigeria government neglected the Dadiya land and their people because they do not have many educated people and people in the government that will lobby and bring development to Dadiya land. Once the rainy season starts, the Dadiya people are cut away from the rest of the world because of a big river that flows almost throughout the rainy season.
Distribution
Dadiya settlements were originally located in and around the Muri Mountains.[2]
- Muri Mountains (northern ridge, in settlements such as LɔɔKwila, LɔɔFiyo, LɔɔBwarɛ, and LɔɔKulakuli)
- Loo Basin (such as in LɔɔTip and LɔɔFaa)
- south of the Muri Mountains (settlements in the foothills, such as Tunga and Bollere)
Today, Dadiya is spoken in Bambam, where the Emir of Dadiya lives in one of its wards.
References
- Dadiya at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
- Kleinewillinghöfer, Ulrich. 2014. The languages of the Tula – Waja Group. Adamawa Languages Project.