The Acipu Or Cicipu
The Acipu people are referred to as the Acipawas or Achipawas by the Hausas, and in some cases as Acifawa.They are said to have originated from Southern Arabia through Katsina to their present location. They call themselves Acipu and the language Cicipu. They are simple, shy and fun loving people who desire peace. Originally, they preferred the mountain ranges as habitation, rather than the vast lowlands. So at their arrival, they made the mountains their homes like the Korisino mountain, the Kumbashi, Kadiden, etc. These mountains became their ancestral homes and serve as major settlements, called 'Urei' even till date. This informs why every major ceremony and initiations are done on the mountains and also the reason why their king called wømø, is permanently based on the mountain and is highly revered and addressed as "Dede da Allah" meaning equal to God.
What Do We Speak?
Dialectically, Cicipu people are grouped as follows, Kumbashi, Karrisen, Maburiya, Kimba, Kakihu, kadiden and Marzarko and are currently spread between Kebbi and Niger States specifically under Sakaba and Mariga local government areas. Nevertheless a few are scattered in other parts of Niger, Kebbi and Kwara state. I am Cipu we call ourselves Acipu and the language we speak is Cicipu. Until later dates, they were permanent on the mountains and only descend for farming purposes. Irrespective of the fact that they are down the mountains, each family still maintains an ancestral family home up the mountain till date and visits as when occasions demands.
Festival
The Acipus have a very strong ancestral spirit called "Okiso", it is feared, reverred and worshipped. They celebrate several festivals which also serve as initiation rites including the Kezzeme festival, Ciciya and Røø'ø festival. The Kezzeme is their major festival celebrated with various activities, it takes place at the end of the dry season as part of a coming-of-age rituals for youths aged around thirteen. The festival is climaxed by flogging or beating of some particular young men who are being initiated into adulthood as a test of maturity. The Ciciya is primarily a youth festival and Røø'ø is like a memorial service for the dead. Even though Islam dominates their religious activities, they still uphold these religious beliefs and practices even among many Christians.
God At Work
During this Kezzeme festival you would find many Christians still going through these processes of beating and initiations. There are churches and mission organizations like CAPRO, Soul Harvesters, Anglican, Assemblies of God, Deeper life, UMCA, etc working among these people. It is however clear that majority of the Christians are nominal and could be found in the Kebbi axis. The others around the Niger axis could be 99% Muslim and unfortunately, the language is seriously endangered in those areas as Hausa is fast becoming the widely spoken language among families.
We however thank God for the Cicipu Language Development Project that is working in reviving and preserving the language through literacy and social campaigns for the use of the language. This as well is being hampered by some security threats.
