Jo S - Chiefs of Jos

Chiefs of Jos

The area known today as Jos is a city of commerce and a cluster of villages with indigenous peoples. Before it became a traditional settler town by the township, it was convenient for the British to administer colonial rule over unexplored native lands through the Hausa—who had some resemblance of political control through their Islamic religion. The Hausa population in Jos had a Hausa Chief in the native town and all other Tin Mine settlements, which they answered to. The indigenous tribe primarily the Berom felt the need to also organize themselves politically, especially after converting to Christianity. Under the influence of British Missionaries the British Administration felt the need to administer indirect rule through a Native Chief rather than a Hausa Chief because of their religious and ethnic peculiarities. This occurred in the late 1940s, when the title of any Chief of Jos became Gbong Gwom Jos.

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