The 6 Most Visited Museums of Nigeria

Below we have enlisted the most visited museums of Nigeria:

Benin City National Museum:
As the name suggests this museum is located in Nigeria’s Benin City; it is categorized as a national museum of the country. The exact location of Benin City National Museum is around the neighborhood of King’s Square at the city center. Here, the visitors will get to see artifacts belonging to the famous Benin Empire. The exhibits here include iron pieces, terracotta models and bronze figures.

Esie Museum:
It is one of the most popular tourist destinations of Esie, Nigeria. Esie museum was founded in the 1945. Earlier, the museum used to boast an exciting collection of 1,000 tombstone images or figures, each of which represented human beings. Besides that Esie Museum is also known for housing the biggest soapstone image collection of the world. Currently, the Esie museum hosts several religious events; an annual festival is held here in April.

Jos Museum:
The Jos Museum is situated in the city of Jos, Nigeria. It was inaugurated in the year 1952; the founder of the Jos Museum was Bemard Fagg, the celebrated British archaeologist. Currently, this museum is rated as one of the major centers of researches on prehistoric Nigerian culture. The most popular segment of the museum is ‘Pottery Hall’. Here, you will witness a fascinating collection of potteries coming from different corners of Nigeria. The works on the body of the potteries reveal the skill and creative impulses of the people of Nigeria. Besides that, the museum also houses a number of extraordinary specimens of the Nok terracotta heads. Here, you will also be greeted with artifacts dating back to the era between 500BC and 200AD. Adjacent to the museum premises, there is a school for the museum technicians. This school was founded with help from UNESCO.

Kaduna Museum:
If you are in Kaduna, Nigeria, this museum should be the first destination you will be visiting. The Kaduna Museum was established in the year 1975 and is one of the best museums of the country. The collections housed by Kaduna Museum include crafts, ethnolographic and archaeological exhibits. There’s also alive craft center in this museum; here you will get to witness men and women creating traditional crafts.

Kanta Museum:
This Nigerian museum is situated in the city of Argungu; to be more precise the museum is located beside the city’s main market. The building in which we have the Kanta Museum today was constructed in the year 1831 and was named after the founder of Kebbi Kingdom, Muhammad Kanta. The founder of this building was Yakubu Nebame, who was one of the former Emirs of Kebbi. The building served as Emir’s palace till the year 1942, after which the building was emptied by the then British ruler of the country. On 1st of July, 1958 the building was declared to be a museum; exploring this museum will inform you about Kebbi State’s turbulent history.

Owo Museum:
Visitors to the city of Owo, Nigeria should never forget to include this museum in their tour plan. Owo Museum was established in the year 1968. Initially the aim of this museum authority was accommodating antiquities that originally belonged to Olowo Palace. The exhibits of this museum include a huge collection of ethnographic materials and several important archaeological artifacts, each of which has been discovered from different regions of the city of Owo. The first excavation work in this city occurred during the time between 1969 and 1971. The excavation was supervised by the famous archaeologist Ekpo Evo. The city of Owo is located between two other well known art centers of Nigeria, Benin and Ife. So, the artwork housed by the Owo museum boasts features of artwork of both these cities.