Abstract:
Ishor divination practice is the central organising principle of life among the Tiv people of northcentral Nigeria. Existing studies on it however, have focused on its roles in Tiv religion, culture
and traditional medicine; literature on space, power and knowledge in the Ishor divination ritual
is scanty. This study was, therefore, designed to examine how the notions of space, power and
knowledge are constructed in the Tiv Ishor divination with a view to underscoring their
significance and influence on the divinatory practice.
The study was premised on Foucault‘s Power/Knowledge Theory and employed ethnography as
design. Purposive sampling method was used to select 44 knowledgeable Ishor diviners cutting
across the eleven council wards of Makurdi Local Government Area. Data were generated using
two life histories, two Key Informant Interviews with diviners; 11 In-Depth Interviews and two
Focus Group Discussions with selected divination clients. Forty-four Participant observation
sessions was used to source information during divination sessions. Data were content analysed.
The Ishor divination space is regarded as a sacred ground and as such clients are required to take
off their footwear before they enter into the divination hut and throughout their period of stay,
they are expected to be in a state of reverence. The space is marked by taboos forbidding clients
to mention death, wear charms, whistle, fight, and cross legs. Women menstruating are also
forbidden from it. Power, as the ability and capacity to influence the behavioural patterns of
someone else in a situation of social interaction, is observable between the diviner and the client.
Such powers are exercised through the display of the diviner‘s incantatory prowess, supernatural
knowledge of causations, and issuing of commandments. Clients demonstrate their powers
through deliberate withholding of information, muteness, shaking of head to signify disapproval,
and outright taking back of their consultation fee as a mark of not being satisfied with the
diviner‘s proclamation. Diviners exhibit knowledge of Ishor divination through supernatural call,
intergenerational transfer, and critical agency of symbolic organisation and linguistic codes.
Ishor divination code responds to the pressures of contemporary social change through Western
education and challenges of Christianity and Islam, economic hardship, modern medical
sciences, ecological degradation and lack of governmental support. These pressures and
challenges have engendered code alteration in relation to linguistic intelligibility, space
organisation and confidence in divination, all of which have threatened the centrality and
importance of the practice in the Tiv culture and society.
Space, power and knowledge are three significant elements that influence and shape the social
construction, interpretation, and understanding of Ishor divination practice among the Tiv of
Benue State, Nigeria. To preserve and sustain Ishor divination practice, these elements must be
addressed and improved upon by relevant institutions.
