Policy and politics in the evolution of Jos Metropolis: spaces of indigene/settler conflict in Plateau State, Nigeria

Onyekachi Nnabuihe, University of Ibadan

Inter-group crisis in Jos was fuelled by planning policies and politics that altered social spaces and identities in the area since colonial period. Jos therefore emerged out of colonial policy that partitioned the city into “Native Town” and “Township”. The partitioning deepened the gulf between Hausa migrants and autochthonous groups and reinforced the struggle for spaces between them. In post-colonial Nigeria, the Federal character principle further heightened the tension as State governments segregated against citizens as non-indigenes. These patterns of relationship further left Jos a violently contested space. Studies have traced the origins of the crisis to the 1991 local government creation and the contestations over the ownership of Jos by different groups. These studies gave little attention to the role of policy and politics in the unhappy evolution of Jos. This study strives to fill this gap using relational theory. Data was generated from Archives, interviews and secondary sources.