Jos

Jos sits at around 1,200 metres on the plateau that carries its name, and the altitude gives it a climate noticeably cooler than the surrounding lowlands, which is why it became a colonial administrative and tin-mining centre and later a place people came to escape the heat. The Jos Museum, founded in 1952, is one of the more significant in Nigeria, holding Nok terracottas, the sculptures of the culture that flourished on this plateau from around 500 BC and produced the earliest known figurative sculpture in sub-Saharan Africa, along with a pottery collection and the Museum of Traditional Nigerian Architecture, an open-air site of full-scale replicas of buildings from across the country. Jos Wildlife Park lies on the city edge.

History

The Nok people, skilled artisans from around the Jos area from about 1000 BC, are the earliest known settlers of what is now Nigeria. The town grew fast after the British found large tin deposits, tin and columbite were mined here until the 1960s, earning it the name "Tin City", and it became capital of Benue-Plateau State in 1967 and of Plateau State in 1975 (Wikipedia, Jos).

The main sights

• Nok terracottas - the early figurative sculpture in the Jos Museum.
• Traditional architecture museum - the full-scale building replicas.
• The pottery collection - the ceramics gallery of the museum.
• Jos Wildlife Park - the enclosure park on the edge of the city.

When to go

November to March in the dry season; the harmattan brings genuinely cold nights on the plateau, unusual for Nigeria. The rains from May to September are heavy. Weekday mornings suit the museums.

Before you go

The museum complex has suffered from underfunding and some galleries and replicas are in poor repair. The wildlife park is a run-down zoo rather than a reserve. Many Nok pieces in circulation are looted or fake, a problem the museum discusses.

Nearby

The Shere hills lie east; Riyom rock is southwest.

Key facts