It is recommended that you visit the local museum at your destination as a tourist, regardless of whether you are a history or art lover. If Nigeria is your latest destination, whether temporary or permanent, here are ten of the country’s top museums in ten of its most populous cities. Mini caveat: The museums’ conditions may or may not be optimal at the time of your visit, but keep in mind that you’ll learn a lot.
Esię Museum
This is Nigeria’s first museum, which opened in 1945. Its most famous collection is of soapstone figures (said to be the largest in the world, with about 800 of them). During your visit, you will most likely hear an intriguing legend about the collection’s mysterious discovery.
The Esi Museum is made up of both old and new galleries, with a total of around 2,000 artifacts. Aside from soapstone figures from various regions of Nigeria, the modern gallery was built to house other artifacts. The museum holds a “monument festival” every April to commemorate its cultural history.
National War Museum
Nigeria’s civil war, which lasted from 1966 to 1967, is still remembered as one of the most heinous events in the country’s history. The National War Museum was established in 1985 to honor the casualties and those who fought, as well as other victims of Nigeria’s violent conflicts. It houses war relics such as armored tanks, warships, local bombs, and more, and it also serves as the country’s research center for warfare.
It is the most important tourist attraction in Abia State. It is housed in the former bunker of the popular war radio station “Voice of Biafra.”
Badagry Heritage Museum
The museum’s most distinguishing feature is that it preserves relics and has reliable documentation of events from the Transatlantic Slave Trade era, while also showcasing the history and culture of the Badagry people along the coast before, during, and after the period.
The one-story building, built in 1863, houses eight galleries, all of which are named after major periods of the slave era and provide visitors with an interesting timeline. The museum and its surroundings, such as the other family-oriented museums lining the street, make for an interesting field trip.
Benin City National Museum
This museum houses a large collection of terracotta, bronze, and cast iron artifacts from Nigeria. In the 1940s, the museum was privately housed in the Oba’s Palace. It was relocated and converted into a public center in the 1970s. There are three galleries in the museum.
Benin was well-known for its iron and bronze casting abilities. Unfortunately, as a result of a British offensive in 1897, some of the relics from this period in the city’s history can only be seen in photographs.
Oron Museum
The Oron Museum houses some of the continent’s oldest wood carvings (known as “Ekpu”) as well as relics from the Nigerian Civil War, such as Ojukwu’s bunker. It was founded in 1958-59 but was destroyed by pillaging during the war. It was reopened in 1975 and now displays recovered wooden figurines, local cultural heritage, and other rare craftwork and ethnographic materials.
Calabar Old Residency Museum
This museum was not even constructed in Nigeria. It was shipped over here in pieces from Scotland via Morocco to serve as the British colonial administration’s headquarters. The Old Residency Museum is truly rich in historical knowledge of pre-colonial and colonial Nigeria, particularly the prosperous palm oil trade and the slave trade era. There is also a collection of “ritual terracotta” at the museum.
Records and relics are carefully preserved and displayed within the museum, which also features beautiful scenery for visitors.
Gidan Makama Museum Kano
The Gidan Makama Museum, also known as the Kano Museum, is a National Monument in Nigeria. The 15th-century building, which was once a palace, is divided into 11 galleries that depict various aspects of Kano and its history, such as architecture, civil war, music, and religion. Kano is the oldest city in West Africa and Nigeria’s second largest.
The architectural design of the museum is perhaps its most admired feature and achievement. The ethnographic collections of the Hausa people and photographic documentation of the city are prominent among its exhibitions.
