Jos Museum and Zoo

Founded in 1952 by archaeologist Bernard E. B. Fagg, the Jos National Museum is considered the first public museum in West Africa. Built to house the extraordinary terracotta sculptures of the Nok civilization, discovered in the tin mines of the Plateau, it now houses one of the finest archaeological collections in the country. These sculptures, dated between 900 BC and 200 AD, are among the continent's earliest life-size figurative representations. The museum also exhibits a superb collection of traditional pottery from all regions of Nigeria. Within the museum complex, you can also visit the Museum of Traditional Nigerian Architecture (MOTNA), which offers life-size reconstructions of emblematic buildings: the walls of Kano, the mosque of Zaria, the tiv village... The rooms devoted to the colonial era feature railway objects and souvenirs from the tin industry, complemented by precious ethnographic and archaeological collections in metal, wood, stone or ivory. A recognized research and training center, it has been home to a UNESCO-supported school for museum technicians since 1963. Despite chronic underfunding and some artifacts lost through theft in the 1980s, it remains a major player in heritage preservation, notably in the fight against international trafficking in Nok terracottas. Choose a weekday visit to enjoy all the spaces and opt for a guide to make sure you don't miss any of the anecdotes.