Margi

The Margi are a Chadic-speaking people of north-eastern Nigeria, especially southern Borno and northern Adamawa areas. They have long interacted with Kanuri, Babur-Bura, Kilba, Fulani and other neighbouring peoples.

Margi history is rooted in settlement across the Mandara foothills and surrounding savanna. The region's history of trade, warfare, Islam, Christianity and colonial boundary-making shaped Margi communities in both upland and lowland settings.

Margi society is organised through clans, villages, elders and local chiefs. Farming households, lineage ties and community associations remain central to social life.

Traditional Margi religion included ancestral rites, spirit beliefs and rituals connected with land, farming and protection. Christianity and Islam are now both present, depending on locality.

Margi cultural life includes traditional music, dance, marriage rites, farming ceremonies and oral traditions connected to hill and savanna settlement. Local variation is important across Margi communities.