Jos under the flames
The violence took just three days. But the healing of wounds will
take longer, perhaps decades. In three days, more than 300 people
had perished. When it started November 28, 2008 as protests over
local-government elections, no one knew it would ‘quickly take on a
lethal sectarian character leading to the murder of 300 people, the
displacement of more than 7,000 and the destruction of many
businesses, churches and mosques. In Jos, the curfew remains in a
subtle, eerie reminder of how long it would take to clear the fear
and suspicion that has happened upon the city since the first
violence erupted in 2001.
Jos with a population hovering over 500, 000 is the capital of
Plateau State, the twelfth largest state of Nigeria, and is roughly
located in the centre of the country. Famously celebrated as the
‘Home of Peace and Tourism’, Plateau State has come witnessed about
three major violence in is than a decade to fracture its much
coveted image of a peace state of around 3.5 million people.
Some analysts believe the crises could have been prevented if the
central and state governments were more proactive since “elections
in Nigeria are often violent and crooked affairs and in Jos there
had been no local elections since the country’s military rulers gave
way to democracy in 1999.” The Jos North local poll was probable
flashpoint in Jos and given the fierce animosities that exist
between the various religious groups in Jos, it was easy to predict
a violent eruption.
Gradually, the bustle is returning to Jos. But it is still a long
way to peace. As one international commentary on the incident notes:
“Forgiveness and reconciliation in Jos will be hard. The
balkanisation of this city of 500,000-plus people that began in 2001
with a first round of religious violence will become starker after
this latest bloodshed. Muslim businessmen will find it harder to
rebuild shops in mainly Christian districts and Christian home
owners will struggle to persuade their families to resettle in
mainly Muslim areas. Since democracy was restored in 1999, most of
northern Nigeria’s Muslim states have introduced Sharia law. That
prompted many thousands of Christians to migrate to other states.
Increasingly, it seems, Christians and Muslims find it difficult to
live alongside each other in a country of 140m-odd people.”
But international commentaries hardly do justice to the real issues.
Often, the Jos crises like so many crises on the continent are
dismissed as ethnic-religious wars. But as Joe Anuga (Read ‘Death by
installment’ writes, the Jos crises reflect the consequences of
failed political leadership and the pursuit of individual’s economic
interest coloured as the interest of an abused or denied religious
and ethnic community.
Editor.
The city from Gwosh
Jos was established in 1915 at the site of the village Gwosh. The
name of the city is most likely derived from the village Gwosh. Jos
grew rapidly after the British discovered vast tin deposits in the
vicinity. Both tin and columbite were extensively mined in the area
up until the 1960s. They were transported by railway to both Port
Harcourt and Lagos on the coast, then exported from those ports. Jos
is still often referred to as "Tin City". In 1967 it was made
capital of Benue-Plateau State, becoming the capital of the new
Plateau State in 1975. Tin mining has led to the influx of migrants,
mostly Hausas, Igbos, Yorubas and Europeans who constitute more than
half of the population of Jos. This "melting pot" of race, ethnicity
and religion makes Jos one of the most cosmopolitan cities in
Nigeria. For this reason, Plateau State is known in Nigeria as the
"home of peace and tourism".
The city is home to the University of Jos (founded in 1975), St
Luke's cathedral, an airport and railway station. Jos is served by
several teaching hospitals including ECWA Evangel Hospital and Jos
University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), a Federal Government-funded
referral hospital.
The National Museum in Jos was founded in 1952 by Bernard Fagg and
was recognized as one of the best in the country. It has
unfortunately been left to fall to ruin as is the case with most of
the cultural establishments in Nigeria. The Pottery Hall has an
exceptional collection of finely crafted pottery from all over
Nigeria. The museum boasts some fine specimens of Nok terracotta
heads and artifacts dating from between 500 BC to AD 200. It also
incorporates the Museum of Traditional Nigerian Architecture with
life-size replicas of a variety of buildings, from the walls of Kano
and the Mosque at Zaria to a Tiv village. Articles of interest from
colonial times relating to the railway and tin mining can also be
found on display. A School for Museum Technicians is attached to the
museum, established with the help of UNESCO.
Local enterprises include food processing, beer brewing, and the
manufacture of cosmetics, soap, rope, jute bags, and furniture.
Heavy industry produces cement and asbestos cement, crushed stone,
rolled steel, and tire retreads. Jos also is a centre for the
construction industry and has several printing and publishing firms.
The Jos-Bukuru dam and reservoir on the Shen River provide water for
the city's industries.
The Jos Airport situated at Heipang has one of the most modern
buildings in the country with a long enough runway for the jet
airlines. The airport is served at the moment by a private airline -
Arik Air, which operate one flight daily to Lagos - to Jos and Jos
to Lagos.
Jos is a great base for exploring the beauty of Plateau State. The
Shere Hills, seen to the east of Jos, offer a prime view of the city
below. Assop Falls is a small waterfall which makes a pleasant
picnic spot on a drive from Jos to Abuja. Riyom Rock is a dramatic
and photogenic pile of rocks balanced precariously on top of one
another, with one resembling a clown's hat, observable from the main
Jos-Akwanga road.
Civilian Governors of Jos
1979 to 1984 - Chief Solomon Danshuep Lar (NPP), 1990 to 1995 - Mr
Fidelis Tapgun (SDP), 1999 to 2006 - Chief Joshua Chibi Dariye (PDP)Impeached,
2006 to 2007 - Chief Michael Botmang (PDP), April 2007 - Chief
Joshua Chibi Dariye (PDP)Reinstated, 2007 to date - Rtd Air
Commodore Jonah David Jang,
Chiefs of Jos
Jos is a traditional settler town. Its Hausa and other minority
settler populations were politically organised under a hausa chief
in its early days until around the late 1940s, when the title of any
Chief of Jos became Gbong Gwom Jos. Again this Berom chiefdom is a
political throne, which did not have an initial basis in Berom
traditions as the Berom peoples until the 1940's remained an ethnic
group with clan centred leadership.
1947 to July 14 1969 - Rwang Pam was the first paramount chief of
the Berom, one of the largest ethnic groups in Plateau State. He was
also the chief under which the city of Jos was reorganised
politically. He died on the throne in 1969.
1969 to 2002 - Fom Bot was his successor, whose reign lasted up to
December 2002 when he also died on the throne after a protracted
illness.
2002 to 2009 - Victor Pam a retired Deputy Inspector General of the
Nigerian Police.
Before the Berom assumed overlordship over the traditional
institution in Jos, however, there were thirteen (13) Hausa rulers (Sarakuna,
plural of Sarki in Hausa). These were:
1. Sarkin Jos Salihu, 1902 - 1904
2. Sarkin Jos Ahmadu Dan’inna, 1904 - 1907
3. Sarkin Jos Hashimu, 1907 - 1909
4. Sarkin Jos Buraimah, 1909 - 1914
5. Sarkin Jos Audu Sarkin Ningi, 1914 - 1915
6. Sarkin Jos Garba Dantafida, 1915 - 1920
7. Sarkin Jos Usuman Kura, 1920 - 1922
8. Sarkin Jos Samanja Dogo, 1922 - 1925
9. Sarkin Jos Garba Waziri, 1925 - 1927
10. Sarkin Jos Saidu, 1927 - 1935
11. Sarkin Jos Isiaku, 1935 - 1948.
The other two rulers were Bunu and Barde who were appointed by the
Emir of Bauchi to oversee the affairs of Jos. They ruled before
1902.
Courtesy: Wikipedia, the free online
encyclopedia.
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