The idea of having a natural history museum in the university was hatched in 1971. The university launched an endowment fund in 1973 for this purpose and one of its main objectives was to establish a standard type repository for scientific materials.In January 1974, the natural history museum was established as an autonomous unit, starting with the collection of the exhibits of the Zoology Department of the university.Apart from the Institute Fundamental Afrique Noir in Dakar, Senegal, the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Natural History Museum was the only other one in West Africa.Unfortunately, the museum's growth was handicapped because of inadequate space for its operations, as it was housed in a small space on the top floor of the Faculty of Agriculture Complex.The museum initiative then went a step further when James Cubitt Adenuga Company was commissioned to design a permanent building to house the artifacts. The design, which won an architectural award in London, was initially estimated to cost two million naira.Unfortunately, the building was abandoned for more than 30 years due largely to cash flow problems and changes in the administration of the universityIn the 1990/91 academic session, the Department of Archaeology in the university was merged with the Natural History Museum, thus expanding its scope of activities to include Archaeology and Cultural Anthropology. And in 1992, the NHM was upgraded to the status of an autonomous institute, while the plan for a permanent building for the museum was still a work in progress.To facilitate the completion of the project, the university launched a N44 million endowment fund for the building as part of its 30th Anniversary celebrations on November 5, 1992.As part of the ceremony, a special exhibition on Nigeria's natural history heritage was held and declared open by His Excellency, Mr. Christopher McCrae, the then British High Commissioner to Nigeria.The desire to have a permanent building for the museum was rekindled in 2007, and so, with renewed fervour, the university set in motion another search for funds. The Leventis Foundation was among the organisations approached for funds to complete the project.An application was made to the foundation and a package of 468,000 was approved for the university to complete the museum, transfer the present artefacts and acquire more to make the Natural History Museum a major tourist attraction.In view of the enormous challenges posed by the architectural design of the building, the university had to look for a reputable contractor that could combine diligence with speed in the execution of projects and who also had a flair for architectural details.The university then engaged the services of Platform Concept Ltd, a company that provides professional services in the field of design, construction and renovation and.Objectives of the Natural History Museum'To conduct research into the vast natural and cultural history of Nigeria.'To serve as a repository of natural and cultural objects in Nigeria. To create scientific awareness on natural and cultural resources of Nigeria through annotated exhibitions for public enlightenment.'To prepare data bases on natural history and cultural resources of Nigeria, and thus facilitate an information-retrieval system for use by stakeholders.'To provide identification services on natural history and cultural objects to user groups especially workers in Archaeology, Agriculture, Veterinary and Human Medicine and pest control.Research sectionThe research section consists of researchers in charge of the six subsections of the scientific unit namely; Botany, Entomology, Zoology, Earth Science, Palaeontology, Archaeology and Anthropology.The Natural History Museum activitiesThe activities of the Natural History Museum can be grouped into six main areas: Administration, Research, Collection, Cataloguing, Exhibition and Training.The Natural History Museum has been at the forefront of conservation research in Nigeria. Some of the (scientific) researches conducted were in the areas of Characterisation of glass and bead making tradition of the Yoruba. This has been adjudged the most comprehensive research on ancient glass chemistry in Africa.'Provenance studies on soapstone statues in an archaeological context.'Provenance studies and materials characterisation of ancient ceramic objects. 'Taxonomy of reservoir fishes in Osun State of Nigeria 'Classification and Characterisation of genus vernonia, in Nigeria and some parts of West Africa.'Technological evaluation of ancient metallurgical advances of the Yoruba of South-western Nigeria.'Complete classification of phyllosilicates and geochemical evolution of rocks of the schist belt of Southwestern Nigeria.'Taxonomic evaluation by morphometric and molecular analyses of rodents and other small mammals from various vegetation belts across Nigeria.'Genetic studies and classification of the rice genus oryza. 'Archaeological/Anthropological survey of natural, cultural and historical sites for tourism development in Nigeria.'Inventory of geological, biological, anthropological and archaeological diversity of Idanre Hills, Ondo State of Nigeria.'Multidisciplinary survey of Igbo-Oje abandoned settlement in Ogbomoso South Local Government area of Oyo State of Nigeria'Bio-ecological studies of the Honeybees of Southwestern Nigeria. 'Faunistic inventory of orb-weaving 5 piders in Southwestern Nigeria 'Mosquito-rock-aquatic plant association of Southwestern Nigeria.CollectionThe museum serves as an important ex-situ conservation facility on Nigeria's biodiversity resources. Its research staff is actively involved in studies which continuously yield a lot of interesting specimens for the Museum collection. A number of bequeaths and gifts have also been received.To date, the museum's herbarium has about 20,000 fully identified plants and 5,150 bird varieties. Specimens of rocks and minerals of South-western Nigeria have also been collected and catalogued.There is also a sizeable collection of mammals, fossils, insects and over 6,000 archaeological artifacts (including the famous Ife terracotta, Ife glass beads, crucibles and tobacco pipes).The museum's artifacts and scientific collections have been a valuable resource to local and l researchers.The vision of the founders of the Natural History Museum was that it should house all types of specimens collected in the course of research in all the faculties of the University.Expeditions are organised with the assistance of researchers.The method of cataloguing depends on the group of animals, plants, minerals and rocks. Unidentified materials are, however, kept within the family or genus to which they belong.The archaeological exhibitionThis consists of replicas of the famous Ife potsherd pavements, traditional Iron smelting techniques, stone artifacts, and ritual objects. It also includes the photographic exhibition of tourism sites In Nigeria and glass beads artifacts from Ile-lfe and Neollithic stone axes from Nsukka, Nigeria.The zoological exhibitionThis Includes dioramas of the Lion family in their natural habitat, the Baboon group, varieties of small mammals, reptiles (featuring the Indian and African Python, Crocodile Alligator and Cobra), Giant Tortoise, Turtle and cartilaginous and fin fishes from the Kainji Lake and reservoirs in Osun state. Also on display are skeletons of Camels and skulls of Man, Elephant and Ostrich.Geological exhibitionThis Includes economic minerals and ores of Nigeria, indigenous ceramics, and the geological section of strata exposed at the Ewekoro quarry In Ogun state.The botany exhibitionThis includes the display of chewing sticks of Nigeria, macro fungi and mushrooms of Nigeria, uses of timber, local calabashes, and different species of indigenous wild cultivated rice and edible vegetables of Nigeria.The display gallery, which is part of the outreach programme, has regularly attracted a lot of visitors, and offered important educational benefits to various interest groups.The tourists patronage is largely from primary and secondary schools, colleges of education and several institutions offering conservationrelated courses from across the country and from outside Nigeria.Training programmesThe museum is also a training centre for mid-level personnel in the Conservation and Tourism sector. It also offers M.Sc and PhD Programmes in Conservation Science and Biosystematics.The museum has trained and is currently training staff of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments and National Parks. Recently, the OAU Senate approved a Diploma program in Conservation Science, the first of its kind in Nigeria. This programme is expected to groom a new crop of professionals for the tourism industry as well as conservation centers like zoological gardens and parks.The exhibition areaThe temporary museum exhibition area (at the faculty of Agriculture complex) is a gallery which is darkened to exclude natural light and reduce or remove the damaging effects of ultraviolet (uv) rays, which affect animal skins, specimens and display materials. UV rays also cause fading of natural colours in painted illustrations and yellowing of white paper. At the same time, the darkness in the gallery enhances the displays in illuminated showcases.The showcases contain popular dioramas worked-out by artists, illustrators and exhibition designers. These displays are generally taxonomy-oriented, and are displayed to convey their relationship with the environment.Adjoining the exhibition areas are improvised rooms for the researchers/scientists, curators, taxidermist, carpenter, technician, designer, graphic artist, illustrator, photographer and the museum security staff.There are other rooms for laboratory work, storage, library and training. In the entire work area, the rooms, laboratory and stores do not have the enabling environment for museum work. Rooms and offices are not air-conditioned; storage cabinets are displayed openly in walk ways and corridors where dust and insect infestation are attendant factors.
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