documentation can serve as a strategic tool for preserving Tiv. Guided by the Ethno-Linguistic Vitality Theory (Giles, 1970s), it combines primary fieldwork with secondary sources to identify which oral

genres are most urgent to record and what obstacles impede the process.

Findings indicate that proverbs, oral word games, chants, songs in folktales, and elegies/dirges constitute the core culturallinguistic

assets requiring immediate documentation. Key barriers include limited funding, inadequate technology, dwindling numbers of fluent speakers due to the shift toward dominant codes, and weak institutional support. The study demonstrates that flexible, multimodal documentation—integrating audio, video, and text—can capture these oral genres, thereby safeguarding Tiv linguistic heritage and ensuring its accessibility for future generations.