By Prisca Sam-Duru
Presented as a rich and priceless compendium, “The Asholio Heritage,” by an accomplished and seasoned journalist, Ben Adam Shemang, is a historical masterpiece that takes readers on an interesting journey into almost everything they need to know about the Asholio people in Southern Kaduna, Nigeria.
The book by the pioneer Director of Training with the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Shemang who retired as Director of News (VON), brings to light, who the Asholio people are, what stands them out, as well as some of the people’s identity being threatened by modernisation.
In other words, The Asholio Heritage explores the cultural identity, farming practices, and social structure of the people.
Shemang, a graduate of Ahmadu Bello University (B.A. English), who holds postgraduate diplomas in journalism and law, a master’s in criminology and security studies, and currently a PhD student in Criminology and Security Studies, brings his training as a journalist into the compilation.
“The Asholo Heritage,” was published in November 2025 by NIRPRI Publishing Press, Abuja. The 409-page book is a product of profound research on Asholio life, history, culture, tradition, and custom.
The epoch-making history book on the Sholio people, is structured into 22 chapters made up of provocative topics and themes, including the people and history of Sholio, political organisation, clans and rulers, arbitration and alternative dispute resolution, language and linguistic variations, settlement patterns, religious modes of worship, cultural dances, family and marriage systems, games and leisure, music and musical instruments, customary practices, beliefs, economic activities, mathematics/counting, genealogy, etc.
In the “Introduction,” the author explains that the book wasn’t written to cause disaffection or injury to anyone considering that it delves deep into diverse aspects of Asholio people’s ways of life which aren’t documented.
Rather, the book was written “with the intention to provoke “debates, further insights and more literary works by critics, scholars, students, researchers and authors about the people,” adding that it “contains many parts of the history, politics, sociology, geography, economic development, the phonetics and phonology, the language, culture, religion, belief system, architecture etc, of the Asholio people,’ noting that it also provides insight into the Sholio land and immediate neighbours.”
In other words, “The book as it is in my submission, tends to define Asholio people with the hope that incoming authors and researchers can pick aspects or parts of this book and develop them into different books and that will be interesting reading titles in my thinking.”
“The Asholio Heritage” also features the totems and taboos of the Asholio people, such as why females are forbidden from eating eggs. As documented in chapter nineteen, “Way back, when a new house is to be built, it is started with just one stone at the centre of the proposed compound. The stone was called “afang agban”, meaning that the Asholio people started building a new compound with a granary (agban). The emphasis on the granary was the fact that the family must never go hungry.
Chapter one subtitled, “The Asholio People”, dives into who the people are, disclosing that Lutswe was the father, founder, and leader of the Asholio people. “…Lutswe came in the Alutswe clan, people who are said to be the first people to live in what is today known as Sholio land.” According to the author, the Asholio people are divided into four clans- Alutswe, Abvuat, Azam, and Aswua. The clans are listed in order of seniority without any of them being superior to the others.
It is noted in this chapter that modern scholars and colonial records have spelt the names of the clans quite differently without being able to change who they are; all these names refer to the same people who call themselves Asholio.
The author also reveals in the “Introduction” the different names the Asholio people are known with. He wrote, “The people we are talking about call themselves Asholio while outsiders call them Moroa or Marwa. So, some documents will have it as Moroa, Moro’a or Marwa.
In chapter two, titled ‘History of Asholio People,’ Shemang gives profound and diverse accounts of the origin of the Asholio people. Under subtitles such as ‘Vak as origin of Asholio’, ‘Bauchi origin theory’, ‘Origin from colonial sources’ and ‘Zaria and Katsina origin story,’ the book documents the diverse theories and accounts about the Asholio people.
The book captures the ‘Political Organisation’ of the Asholio people in Chapter Four, in which the author traces the leadership structures of the people from the pre-colonial era. Subtitles in this chapter include; ‘Pre-Colonial Period’, ‘Colonial Period’, Post-Colonial politics in Sholio land 1960- date, Asholio (Moroa) Development Association, Sholio Town Hall and Chat Community Bank. He follows this chapter up with “Some of the Paramount Rulers (YAAGWAM) of Sholio”, which is the title of Chapter Five.
While Chapter Nine deals with ‘Language and Linguistic Variations’ of the Asholio people, chapter eleven documents the impact of civilization on the people. The two major impacts are in the areas of cultural erosion and “Changes and substituting names of settlements”.
The people’s religion and modes of worship, their sacred places and heroes and heroines, diverse cultural dances, family and marriage (which delves deeper into the relationship between grandparents and their grandchildren), games and leisure, the different musical instruments used for entertainment, the different practices, totems and beliefs of the Asholio people, etc, are all captured from chapter thirteen to chapter nineteen. Interestingly, the Asholio people have their own unique mathematics symbols.
This is documented in chapter twenty-one titled, ‘Mathematics (fe) and its importance. This section is presented with two subtitles, ‘Mathematics Symbols’ and ‘Counting in Sholio Language’.
The author’s attempt to make the book appealing to the reader pays off as he employs coloured illustrations, images, and photographs like the one used for the cover page.
He goes further to dedicate a total of sixteen pages in between pages 266 and 267, for photographs and illustrations showing the people’s kitchen utensils, wild fruits, traditional method of storing cold water, how the people dressed in the 70s, traditional dancers, their huts, and a whole lot more.
The ‘References’ section is an indication that ‘The Asholio Heritage’ is a well-researched and referenced book. It is quite suitable for the avid reader and scholars. Any reader who is traditionally and culturally inclined will find the book a historical companion.
As Fr. Benjamin Yakubu Bala, also known as fr. Bamba wrote in the Foreword, Shemang’s book will serve as a rich reference material to many.
“The heritage of a people is preserved in documentation. Unfortunately, there is not much documentation available on Asholio. Therefore, this book is a modest contribution by Shemang in this regard. Considering that there is not much written on the Asholio heritage, the author made good use of oral sources and personal experience and a few available documented sources.
“The author pays tribute to documentation by colonial masters. Some were apt while others contained uncompleted and unbalanced truths. In this book, you will see how the author was able to respectfully blend the colonial narratives with the realistic experiences of the people from local sources,” fr. Bamba wrote.
‘The Asholio Heritage’ is highly recommended to the Nigerian public, particularly every indigenous person of Southern Kaduna. Tourists and tourism entrepreneurs will find it a vital document.
To lovers of history, the book is priceless. It is a must kept on the shelves of homes, schools, and public libraries.
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