Ibi, Nigeria

Ibi is a town and administrative district in Taraba State, Nigeria. The town is located on the south bank of the Benue River, opposite the influx of the much smaller Shemankar River.

Ibi is one of the sixteen local government areas of Taraba State, and is governed by an elected chairmen.

History

Ibi was located where the traditional land trade route of eastern Igboland crossed the river trade route of the Benue River. [Afigbo, A. E. (1997) "Southeastern Nigeria, the Niger-Benue Confluence, and the Benue in the Precolonial Period: Some Issues of Historiography" "History in Africa" 24: pp. 1-8, p.4] It was part of the Jukon kingdom (1720-1815) whose capital, Kororofa, was 35 miles east (up river).Duggan, E. de C. (1932) "Notes on the Munshi ("Tivi") Tribe of Northern Nigeria: Some Historical Outlines" "Journal of the Royal African Society" 31(123): pp. 173-182, p.173-174] After the Fulani invasion Ibi became part of the Muri Emirate (1817-1892). Like the rest of Muri it was under the French governor Louis Mizon from 1892-1893.

By 1899 the Niger Company established a trading station at Ibi, and by 1901 telegraph service to Lokoja had been established. [Arnott, D. W. (1958) "Councils and Courts among the Tiv--Traditional Concepts and Alien Institutions in a Non-Moslem Tribe of Northern Nigeria" "Journal of African Law" 2(1): pp. 19-25, p. 19] The British took control in 1900 and established Ibi as the administrative headquarters of western Muri. As cotton was one of the major crops of the area, steam powered cotton gins were established in Ibi in the early 1920s.Duggan, E. de C. (1922) "The Cotton Growing Industry of Nigeria" "African Affairs" 21(83): pp. 199-207, p. 203]

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