Nigeria's natural history museum holds rare collection of West African artefacts

In southwest Nigeria, West Africa's only natural history museum serves as a world-class facility for the conservation of natural resources.

Built-in 1973 as part of the zoology department at Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria's Natural History Museum was left abandoned for over 30 years before it was renovated and reopened in 2011.

Fashioned after the British Museum and the Smithsonian, it has thousands of specimens including plants, archaeological artifacts and animal skins and skulls from around Nigeria.