Plateau

Plateau State exists because tin made Jos cosmopolitan before violence made it tragic. The Berom people called their settlement Gwosh before British colonialists corrupted it to "Jos" as they arrived to mine tin and columbite starting in 1904. The Jos Plateau became one of the world's major tin suppliers, with columbite (niobium ore) deposits exploited since the 1940s. Miners from across Nigeria poured in, creating unusual diversity that earned the nickname "Home of Peace and Tourism." The near-temperate climate (13-22°C average) and harmattan winds gave respite from tropical heat. But mining destroyed arable land, leaving gorges and lakes where farms once stood. Rising unemployment among youth combined with settler-indigene tensions over political representation. Since 2001, ethno-religious violence between Christian indigenous groups (Berom, Afizere, Anaguta) and Muslim Hausa-Fulani settlers has killed at least 4,000-7,000 people. The 2004 Yelwa massacre killed over 700; violence displaced over 29,000 to IDP camps as of early 2025. Created from Benue-Plateau in 1976 and further divided when Nasarawa split off in 1996, Plateau struggles between its tourist potential and security crisis. By 2026, whether peace returns or violence continues will determine if "Home of Peace" becomes ironic epitaph or recovered identity.