VOM

town, Plateau state, central Nigeria, situated on the Jos Plateau near the source of the Kaduna River, 18 miles (29 km) southwest of Jos town. It is the site of the National Veterinary Research Institute (1924) and of western Africa's first veterinary school (1942). Vom also has a government dairy; milk is supplied by Fulani herdsmen who graze their cattle on the tsetse-free plateau. The volcanic soils around Vom are heavily farmed for sorghum, millet, acha (hungry rice), and potatoes and other vegetables. Tin and columbite mining is important east of the town, and the minerals are sent to Jos for smelting and via rail to Port Harcourt, 360 miles (580 km) south-southwest, for export. Pop. (1972 est.) 11,264.