Jos

Jos is a city in the North-Central region of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The city has a population of about 900,000 residents based on the 2006 census. Popularly called "J-Town", it is the administrative capital and largest city of Plateau State. The city is situated on the Jos Plateau which is embedded in the Guinea Savannah of North-Central Nigeria. It connects most of the North-Eastern capitals to the Federal Capital Territory Abuja by road. Driving in and out of Jos, one is sure to encounter very steep sloppy bends and breathtaking mountainous sceneries which is typical of the plateau landform. The state (Plateau State) was coined from its affiliation to this landform. During British colonial rule, Jos became an important centre for tin mining when the colonialists discovered huge deposits of cassiterite the main ore for the metal. It is also the trading hub of the state as commercial activities are steadily increasing. History The earliest known settlers of the land that would come to be known as Nigeria were the Nok people ( BCE), skilled artisans from around the Jos area who mysteriously vanished in the late first millennium. According to the historian Sen Luka Gwom Zangabadt, the area known as Jos today was inhabited by indigenous ethnic groups who were mostly farmers. According to Billy J. Dudley, the British colonialists used direct rule for the indigenous ethnic groups on the Jos Plateau since they were not under the Fulani emirates where indirect rule was used. According to the historian Samuel N Nwabara, the Fulani empire controlled most of northern Nigeria, except the Plateau province and the Berom, Ngas, Tiv, Jukun and Idoma ethnic groups. It was the discovery of tin by the British that led to the influx of other ethnic groups such as the Hausa from the north, southeastern Igbo, and Yoruba from the country's southwest. As such, Jos is often recognized as a cosmopolitan Nigerian city.