By Terlumun Kerekaa with information from Terhile Nicholas Tondu
Mr Joseph Tondu Kumbur, popularly known as Tondu Kumbur, was a legendary Tiv oral poet whose irresistible voice usually held his audience spell-bound. His career as an oral poet earned him both local and international repute.
He was born on 11th October, 1940 to the family of Mr. and Mrs. Kumbur Gbaguma at Mbajor, Mbadam, Mbatierev District of Gboko Local Government Area of Benue State. The artiste started his formal education at the Roman Catholic Mission, RCM, Primary School Chakwagh, Mbadam, Mbatierev in Gboko Local Government and stopped at Infant Two, from 1950 – 1952.
His father had two wives. One of them had two male children while Kumbur was the only child of his mother. Two of his brothers from the other woman left for the Nigerian Civil War, 1967-1970, but only one, Philip Kokombu Kumbur returned.
In the early part of his youth, he concentrated his energy in farming and helping his parents. Later, he found expression and pleasure in singing.
Kumbur the artiste married twelve wives in all. However, the first six had no children for him and left. From the others he had 21 children.
His son, Terhile Nicholas Tondu, explained in an interview that Kumbur cherished his father’s name so much that his way of preserving it was through polygamy and subsequent offpring. He took upon himself to teach each child the names of their fathers to the very last one. The drill continued till every child could call out all the names of their forefathers.
Kumbur was also a great farmer such that young men from the neighbouring districts of Mbayion, Mbatyav, Mbakor and his immediate community, Mbatierev, would usually organise themselves to come and make yam heaps for him. His son said the farm was so large that it usually took about a month to complete the making of heaps.
From these heaps Kumbur would divide, not just among his wives in the compound from the most senior to the youngest according to their capacities, but also the entire extended family of Daku. With the farm activities going on alongside his music career, Kumbur’s compound had enough to eat and to spare; so his compound was always a beehive of communal activities.
The artiste discovered his talent at tender age when he was said to have possessed a special ability of greeting people by calling their names up to the fourth generation. Whenever Kumbur met anyone in his community that he did not know his or her names, he enquired and updated his knowledge about such a person.
This pattern of Kumbur’s greeting at a young age was appealing, even to elders, such that they were not only fascinated, but always expectant to hear him greet them by their names and those of their forefathers. He was also a great story teller. These aspects of creativity later manifested profoundly in the generous exploitation of proverbial wisdom and linguistic resourcefulness in his music career.
He started his singing career in 1962 in the ‘Ate’, the reception hut, at his father’s compound. His peers would gather around him and listen in wonder how Kumbur would weave their names aesthetically in the songs he composed. Thereafter, he joined a dance and singing team known as Ange at Inyenge, a market in his village. Here too, Kumbur distinguished himself through his performance such that his name traversed throughout the contours of his immediate community and the neighbouring villages.
Later the oral poet performed with his relation, Agungu Daku as his assistant. (Agungu later became the District Head of Mbadam in Mbatierev). Later, he formed a team of seven people with which he toured states and major cities in Nigeria which had a sizeable population of Tiv people. These included the old Gongola State, Kaduna, Jos, Lagos, Enugu, Kano and many others where he was invited to perform.
In many instances Kumbur and his assistant, Agungu, performed, just the two of them, before the audience.
Yet their voices blended so much that the striking combination won the hearts of the audience. However, in an event where he was hosted at Imo-mirin, song-parties, (literally song brewing); Kumbur’s renditions would usually be accompanied by musical instruments and dance. In such an instance, he would perform with his assistant at the beginning of every song after which his team would perform the same song accompanied by musical instruments.
In many instances a sizable part of his audience would follow him as he was moving from one song party to another especially in events of close proximity. This singular thing made Kumbur a costly poet to host. This also explained why some could not afford to host him at a song-party.
Thematically, Kumbur’s performance covered a wide spectrum of human endeavours including governance, history, economy, development, agriculture, education and politics.
He was not just an entertainer to his audience; the oral poet was also greatly involved in mobilizing and educating the society on government policies and governance. He participated maximally in Agricultural Shows and Trade Fares at different times and locations within and outside Benue State.
In 1981, the administration of the late Governor Apollos Aper Aku collaborated with the Federal Government of Nigeria headed by the late President Shehu Shagari to sponsor Kumbur to represent Nigeria at one of the International Festival of Arts and Culture in London.
The oral poet distinguished himself and did his state and Nigeria proud by winning several awards including what himself claimed, the World Best Soloist Award with the title “De Golden Voice”. In his time, Kumbur was also the Chairman of oral poets among the Tiv in Benue State.
His contemporaries included Tarker Golozo, Iyoughol Ute, Neeryum Kaor (Udoo Mbalagh), Akile Bende, Iorgyer Igba, Ajo Agôr and numerous others.
In fact, there was an innocuous rivalry between himself and Golozo which became public knowledge and also showed up in the compositions of the two oral poets.
Tondu Kumbur, the legendary artiste, flourished in his career as an oral poet. His songs are still popular among the Tiv people within and outside Benue State.
He battled a liver ailment for many years finally capitulating on his 50th birthday anniversary, 11th October, 1990 when his glorious career came to an end as he joined his fathers.
It was on his hospital bed that he requested and received the sacrament of Baptism and given the name Joseph.
