Jos Museum

{{Short description|Museum in Nigeria}} {{Use Nigerian English|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox museum | name = '''Jos Museum''' | native_name = | native_name_lang = | logo = | logo_upright = | logo_alt = | logo_caption = | image = Museum, Jos (02).jpg | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | map_type = | map_relief = | map_size = | map_caption = | coordinates =  | former_name = | established = 1952 | dissolved =  | location = 1 Museum St, 930105, Jos, Nigeria{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}} | type = | accreditation = | key_holdings = | collections = | collection_size = | visitors = | founder = Bernard Fagg | executive_director = | leader_type = | leader = | director = | president = | ceo = | chairperson = | curator = | architect = | historian = | owner = | public_transit = | parking = | network = | website =  | embedded = }}

'''Jos Museum''' is a museum in Jos, Nigeria. The museum was established in 1952 by Bernard Fagg.<ref name="Anthropology Today">{{Cite journal |date=1988 |title=Obituary |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3032879 |journal=Anthropology Today |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=23–25 |issn=0268-540X}}</ref>

The museum administers the Museum of Traditional Nigerian Architecture.<ref name="Daily Trust">{{Cite news |date=2022-04-10 |title=The death of history: Inside the crumbling state of Jos museum |url=https://dailytrust.com/the-death-of-history-inside-the-crumbling-state-of-jos-museum |access-date=2022-08-14 |newspaper=Daily Trust|language=en}}</ref> The museum complex also houses a Botanical Garden, a Pottery Museum, a Zoo, and a library.<ref name=":0" />

== History ==

Plans for the museum had begun in 1944 after accidental archeological discoveries prompted by mining in the area, but it was not until October 1949, when £6500 pounds was granted for its construction that work began.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Fagg |first=Bernard |date=1963 |title=The museums of Nigeria |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1468-0033.1963.tb01548.x |journal=Museum International |language=en |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=124–148 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-0033.1963.tb01548.x |issn=1350-0775|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The museum was opened in 1952 by Bernard E. B. Fagg, who served as the Director of Antiquities of the colonial administration at the time, until 1963.<ref name="Hudson 1998">{{Cite journal |last=Hudson |first=Kenneth |date=1998 |title=The Museum refuses to stand still |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000110507 |journal=Museum International |issue=Fiftieth anniversary issue |pages=43–50 |via=UNESCO Digital Library}}</ref><ref>Hellman, Amanda H. "To store is to save: Kenneth C. Murray and the founding of the Nigerian Museum, Lagos." ''Museum Storage and Meaning''. Routledge, 2017. 90-102.</ref> It was the first public museum in West Africa.<ref name="Anthropology Today" /> The site the museum had been built on was purchased with expansion in mind by Fagg, who saw it more as a complex.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Hellman |first=Amanda H. |date=2014-03-01 |title=The Grounds for Museological Experiments: Developing the Colonial Museum Project in British Nigeria |url=https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/jcs.3.1.74_1 |journal=Journal of Curatorial Studies |language=en |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=74–96 |doi=10.1386/jcs.3.1.74_1 |issn=2045-5836|url-access=subscription }}</ref> It was characterized as a experimental, with its interdisciplinary approach to the idea of a museum.<ref name=":1" />

When the museum first opened, the display collection largely consisted of Nok figurine culture, but also featured archaeological contributions from across the country, including a Benin Bronze.<ref name=":0" />

The zoo first began unofficially in 1955, and was later formally established in 1960.<ref name=":0" /> The museum library houses a collection of Arabic manuscripts, dating from the 16th to 20th centuries, which it began acquiring in 1958.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bala |first=Salisu |date=2011 |title=The Preservation of Ancient Arabic Manuscripts: A Reflection on Some Selected Public Repositories in Northern Nigeria |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42636167 |journal=Islamic Africa |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=1–10 |issn=2333-262X}}</ref> In 1961, the botanical garden opened.<ref name=":0" />

In 1963, UNESCO established the Regional Training Centre in Jos.<ref name="Hudson 1998" /> The institution was bilingual in English and French until the establishment of a separate French-language centre in Niamey. After UNESCO ended its financial support, the centre lost funding and resources.

The museum has fallen into disrepair, attributed to a lack of government funding, raising concerns about loss of cultural preservation.<ref name="Daily Trust" /> In 2019, the museum was only allocated ₦158,197,120.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kojah |first=Senami |date=28 August 2019 |title=Jos Museum, A Monument In The Shadows Of 'Death' |url=https://saharareporters.com/2019/08/28/jos-museum-monument-shadows-%E2%80%98death%E2%80%99 |location=New York City, United States|access-date=13 August 2022 |newspaper=Sahara Reporters}}</ref>

=== Theft and recovery of artifacts ===

On 14 January 1987, the museum was robbed of nine valuable artifacts by a group of thieves.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gundu |first=Zacharys |date=2020 |title=Looted Nigerian Heritage - An Interrogatory Discourse around Repatriation |journal=Contemporary Journal of African Studies |volume=7 |issue=1}}</ref> A list of the stolen artifacts was made by UNESCO.

In December 1990, one of the stolen artifacts, a fifteenth-century Benin Bronze, was discovered at an auctioneer in Zürich.<ref>{{Cite news |date=28 February 1991 |title=Stolen Benin bronze found in Zürich |work=The Art Newspaper |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/1991/03/01/stolen-benin-bronze-found-in-zurich |access-date=13 August 2022}}</ref> It was returned to the museum after two independent Swiss citizens suspected and confirmed that it was stolen.<ref>{{cite conference| title = Report by the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation on its activities, 1990-1991| pages = 2–4| date = 19 July 1991| url = https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000089231| access-date = 13 August 2022}}</ref>

Another stolen artifact, a bronze head from Ifẹ, was discovered in London in 2017.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Phillips |first=Barnaby |date=26 June 2022 |title=Nigerian Ife head: Why UK police are holding a priceless sculpture |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61826273 |access-date=13 August 2022}}</ref> The sculpture had been auctioned off in 2007 by the Belgian government. It was purchased by an antiques dealer, unaware that it was stolen. The buyer attempted to sell the head through the auction house Woolley and Wallis, but auctioneer John Axford realized it was stolen and passed it on to police. This led to a legal battle between the Jos Museum and the buyer over ownership of the artifact. As of 2022, the artifact is currently held by UK police.

==References== {{reflist}} {{Museums in Nigeria}} {{Authority control}}

Category:Museums in Nigeria Category:Museums established in 1952 Category:Jos Category:Architecture museums Category:Archaeological museums Category:20th-century architecture in Nigeria