By Emmanuel Kwada
The Lunguda Traditional Council in Guyuk Local Government Area of Adamawa State has officially rebranded as the Nungura Traditional Council, marking a powerful reaffirmation of cultural heritage and linguistic identity.
The transition, formalized through a sworn affidavit filed at the Adamawa State High Court and notifies the general public and highlights the community’s dedication to preserving its matrilineal legacy amid Nigeria’s diverse ethnic landscape.
Sworn in October 2025, the affidavit, stamped in Yola, declares the shift from “Lunguda” to “Nungura,” reflecting the preferred ethnonym of a people numbering about a million as per the 2006 census.
Spanning the Lunguda Plateau in Guyuk, with extensions into Balanga LGA of Gombe and parts of Borno, the Nungura trace their origins to the Middle East—possibly Yemen via Sudan and Borno Kingdom—settling in northeastern Nigeria’s volcanic hills.
The name “Nungura,” from “Nungiraba” (meaning “people who are very close to each other”), embodies their unity and matrilineal tradition, where inheritance and clan membership pass through the maternal line—a rarity in Nigeria’s patrilineal norm.
Local leaders describe the change as a “cultural renaissance,” timed ahead of the 2027 elections and amid recent Lunguda-Waja land disputes in Lamurde LGA.
The affidavit notes that “Lunguda,” a colonial imposition, is being replaced by “Nʋngʋra,” aligning with dialect clusters like Gwaanda, Cerii, and Deele, and mandates the new name for all official use.
This move mirrors Nigeria’s growing trend of ethnic self-assertion, seen in Fulani’s “Fulbe” push and Igbo’s “Ndi-Igbo” advocacy. With a history of resisting colonial forces in 1904 and unifying in 1948, the Nungura’s renaming could boost cultural tourism in Guyuk, a hub of limestone and the Numan-Biu corridor, as Adamawa’s over ₦2.66 trillion economy recovers from insurgency.
Youth in Wala Lunguda and Koola celebrate it as a “victory for dialects and dignity,” though some elders worry about administrative delays, urging swift gazette publication. The Nungura Council now seeks peace with “cousin tribes” like the Waja, positioning this name change as a beacon of identity and unity in a nation of over 250 ethnicities. The affidavit, now public, stands as a legal and cultural milestone.
