James Ayatse

His Royal Majesty , Begha u Tiv, Orcivirigh Professor James Ortese Iorzua Ayatse, Tor Tiv V (born 12 May 1956) from Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State in central Nigeria is a Nigerian Academic who is the Paramount Ruler of Tiv Nation and President, Tiv Area Traditional Council and Chairman, Benue State council of Chiefs. He previously served as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi and the pioneer Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Dutsin-Ma respectively before succeeding His Royal Highness, Orchivirigh Late Dr. Alfred Akawe Torkula, Tor Tiv IV who ruled between 1991 and 2015 until his demise on 22 November 2015.Ayatse was elected on Tuesday, 20 December 2016 and coronated on 4 March, 2017 by the Kingmakers of his subjects after a meeting of the Tiv Supreme Council known as Ijir Tamen, held at the chambers of the Tiv Traditional Council at Gboko - a town recognized as the Traditional Headquarters of the Tiv people who are believed to be the 4th largest ethnic group in Nigeria.Prior to becoming Tor Tiv V, Ayatse, a famed academic became a professor of Biochemistry in his late thirties and would later serve as the Vice Chancellor in two separate Federal universities between 2001 – 2006 and 2011 – 2016 respectively, making him only the first Tiv man to do so. As Tor Tiv V, Ayatse is also the first Tiv man to ever rule his subjects as a Professor. In contrast with his predecessors who took Oath of Office for the Tor Tiv Throne swearing by the ancestral “Swem”, Ayatse swore by the Christian Bible, becoming the first Tor Tiv to take Oath of Office using the Bible.

President Mohammadu Buhari congratulated the Monarch, stating that Prof. Ayatse’s emergence as the paramount ruler of the Tiv people, is an affirmation of his strength of character, integrity, and moral authority, garnered over the years as a lecturer, erudite scholar and administrator.