16/03/2026
THE UNTOLD STORY OF HOW THE GBONG GWOM JOS STOOL WAS CREATED IN 1935
Many people know the title Gbong Gwom Jos, but very few people know how and why this powerful traditional stool was created in 1935.
To understand this story, we must go back to the early colonial period on the Jos Plateau, when the political structure of Beromland changed forever.
1. Berom Leadership Before Colonial Rule
Before the British arrived in the Jos Plateau, the Berom people did not have one central king ruling the entire nation.
Instead, Berom society was organized into semi-autonomous districts and clans, each with its own leadership.
Each district had a Be-Gwom (high chief) who governed the people locally.
Major districts included:
Du
Gyel
Riyom
Vwang
Za'ang
Foron
Bachit
Fan
Kuru
Gashish
Heipang
These chiefs formed councils and governed their territories independently while maintaining shared cultural identity as Berom.
This system worked well because Berom society emphasized community leadership rather than centralized monarchy.
2. British Colonial Administration Arrives
In 1906, the British consolidated control over Northern Nigeria after defeating many indigenous resistance movements and integrating territories into their colonial system.
The Jos Plateau was placed under Bauchi Province within the Northern Nigeria Protectorate.
However, the British soon faced a problem:
The Plateau had many independent ethnic groups and decentralized leadership structures.
For the British system of Indirect Rule, this was difficult to manage.
Indirect Rule required a central chief who could represent the entire people to the colonial government.
But the Berom had no such king.
3. The Tin Mining Revolution in Jos
Another factor that forced political change was tin mining.
By the early 1900s, the Jos Plateau became one of the largest tin mining regions in the British Empire.
This brought thousands of outsiders:
Europeans
Hausa traders
Igbo migrants
Yoruba workers
