Colonialism as the Root Cause of the Conflict in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State, Nigeria

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Jos North Local Government Area is one of the local government areas in Plateau State that has a long history of conflict. The history of the conflict is traced right from the colonial period. The colonial government adopted a divided and rules policy to rule the area and this has not only laid the seed to the conflict but has deepen mutual distrust between the indigenes and the settler groups. Apart from the prominence the colonialists have given the settlers group over the native whom at the time were referred as the pagan, it fails to introduce spatial plan and policies that would have help to mitigate the contestation over the ownership of the area between the natives and settlers' group. Being non-experimental research, the study used qualitative and historical research design to elicit data for the study. The data of the study were generated from array of documentary facts drawn from both published and unpublished materials (Textbooks, journals, newspapers and documented historical reports from the national archival centre). The study found that colonialism is the root causes of the conflict in Jos North and it is at the heart of the conflict through its policies of divide and rule and its failure to plan and provide spatial policy for both the settler and indigene groups. The study recommends among others the need to revise the 1999 constitution to clearly define who is an indigene and a settler within the country, the adherence to democratic principles and the need for mutual co-existence.