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Abuja National Museum & Nigeria's Cultural Heritage

The National Museum in Abuja houses Nigeria's most important archaeological and artistic collections — Nok terracotta, Ife bronze heads, and Benin bronzes that were the foundation of African art history

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1
Enough Terracotta Collection
The Nok culture produced West Africa's earliest figurative sculpture — terracotta heads and figures from 500 BC. to 200 AD, discovered in the Nigerian tin mines in 1928
2
The Ife Bronze Heads
Ife's Yoruba bronze casting tradition produced naturalistic bronze portraits of rulers in the 12th and 14th centuries — objects of astonishing technical and artistic sophistication
3
Benin Bronze Gallery
Benin Kingdom bronze plaques and royal court sculptures — many looted by British forces in 1897 and now being returned from European museums; original and repatriated pieces show
4
Igbo-Ukwu Ceremonial Objects
Bronze objects from 8th century Igbo-Ukwu society — ritual vessels, ornaments and tools cast with a finesse that challenged Western assumptions about African metalworking
5
Nigerian Textile Collection
The extraordinary diversity of Nigerian traditional weaving - akwete cloth juxtaposed with Kente, Yoruba aso-oke, Hausa guinea brocade and Igbo ulaga - show in a chronological textile walk
6
Independence Historical Section
The journey from colonial British Nigeria to independence in 1960 — photographs, documents and personal items of the independence leaders tell the story of Africa's most populous nation