Gbong Gwom Jos, Pam, dies at 73
From Isa Abdulsalami, Jos
THE Joint Council of Traditional Rulers in Plateau State has announced the death of the Gbong Gwom Jos, Da Victor Pam Dung Pam, who passed on last Saturday morning. The council has however postponed, indefinitely, all burial arrangements for the late monarch.
While formally announcing the death of the Gbong Gwom yesterday in his palace, the Ataa Aten of Ganawuri, Da Yakubu Chaimang, said Pam died at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) of an unknown illness at the age of 73.
As the third Gbong Gwom Jos, Pam was elected to the throne on April 17, 2004 after the demise of his predecessor, Da Fom Bot. He ruled for five years before he died on Saturday.
Answering a question as to what led to the Gbong Gwom's death, Aten said that the late monarch had been in and out of hospitals for quite some time before he finally died, adding that as a layman, he could not name the ailment that led to his death.
On his succession, he said that there are traditional processes that have to be followed, adding that the processes could take only one week and may also take one month.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, has sent a condolence message to the governor and people of Plateau State over the monarch's death.
In a statement yesterday signed by his Special Adviser on Media Affairs, Kayode Akinmade, the Speaker described the deceased as a devout Christian who used his exalted position to preach love and peaceful co-existence.
Bankole noted the invaluable role the late monarch played in bringing together warring religious adherents in his domain in recent time.
Da Victor Dung Pam was born on March 4, 1936 at Nyango-Gyel in Jos South Local Council of Plateau State.
He started his elementary school in Gyel in 1944 after which he went to Central School, Pankshin, in 1948. He was at the Government College, Keffi, between 1950 and 1955 after which in 1956, he was employed at the Jos Museum as a Technical Assistant in the Department of Antiquities.
Between 1958 and 1966, Da Victor Dung Pam was at the Police College, Ikeja, Lagos and London School of Journalism. He rose to become the Deputy Inspector-General of Police/Commander, National Guard between 1989 and 1991. Pam is survived by a wife and three children - two sons and a daughter.
After retirement from active service of the Nigeria Police in 1992 with the rank of Deputy Inspector-General, Pam returned home to farming and other businesses. He later enrolled at the Theological College of Northern Nigeria and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Divinity in the year 2000.
Before his selection as the Gbong Gwom Jos, he was the Chairman, Board of Directors, Jos International Breweries Plc and he had been the Chairman Board of Directors, Builders Product Industries (Nig) Ltd.
He was the Chairman, Plateau State Council of Chiefs, President, Jos Joint Traditional Council, the Chairman, Jos North Council of Chiefs and also the Chairman, Plateau State Land Use and Allocation Committee.
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) yesterday expressed shock over the monarch's death, saying that Nigerians, particularly the government, would miss his contribution to national development and growth.
The ACF National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Anthony Sani, in a statement, said: "We have just received the heart-rending news of the death of Gbong Gwom Jos, and wish to condole and commiserate with the government and the people of Plateau State, friends and family members of the late Da Victor Pam."
The Northern elders said: "May God provide those who would miss his serviceable existence on Earth the sturdy hearts to endure this important loss and get the Berom people a replacement capable of not just starting from where the late Gbong Gwom Jos stopped but also improving upon his good works."
Sani further stressed that both the people of Plateau and the government would continue to miss Pam's fatherly advice.
