Efoseh

Tella, Taraba State, Nigeria

Tella is a town situated in Taraba State near the Taraba River. It is under Gassol Local Government Area. The representative of Gassol constituency is Hon. Kabiru Jalo. He is also the representative of Bali LGA.

Culture

The people of Tella mostly speak Jukun and Hausa language. They practice the extended family system and usually have large families. Not many families are polygamous as compared to other states in Nigeria. Some of the elderly people have tribal marks on their faces. It was used as a way to identify one’s tribe. The king is in charge of all the affairs of the town.

People from far and wide come to Tella on the ‘market day’. It is a big event in which people trade their goods. Wednesdays are special days to buy and sell fish because they are cheaper on that day and people rush to buy. There are many festivities in the month of December such as the rice harvest festival and the Christmas celebrations. They mark these events by sharing and exchanging food and gifts amongst themselves regardless of one’s religion or ethnicity. Food is also shared to the less privileged and those who did not reap a good harvest.

Agriculture

The people of Tella are mostly farmers. Their cash crops are rice, sorghum, cassava, groundnut, guinea corn and vegetables. They farm fishes from Taraba River and also fetch water from it for domestic purposes. Recently, they embarked on agricultural development programs and started livestock farming of cows and chicken which was not practiced in the past. They usually just reared a few animals in their homes.

References

Office of the Speaker. [1] Retrieved October 10, 2010.

Map of Taraba State. [2] Retrieved October 10, 2010. Efoseh (talk) 20:33, 13 October 2010 (UTC)