ABSTRACT

Memory communication is acknowledged all over the world as one of the essential reasons for the existence of public institutions such as libraries, archives and museums. This is to say that from the beginning of time, a strong relationship exists among libraries, museums and -:lrchives institutions. Museum has been generally described as an institution that conserves a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical or scientific impor(ance for the education of the public. Historically, museum has classical origins and has largely been embraced by developed countries and is perceived to offer many benefits to countries in the developing world. Early museums began as the private collections of wealthy individuals, families or institutions of arts and rare or curious natural objects and artifacts. These were often displayed in so called wonder rooms or cabinets of curiosities. The oldest of such museum in evidence was Ennigaidi's Museum dating from 530 BC and devoted to Mesopotamian, antiquities (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1997). Today, museum like other institutions around the world strive to redefine their roles and positions in relation to their communities and with respect to the cultural heritage that lies beyond their walls, highlighting the, new respor: sibilities towards the heritage that surrounds them. Museums are presently translating cult ral heritage into temporal terms as to what needs to be preserved so as to keep up colle~ve memory. Museums are no longer just outstanding collection centres of evidence about a certain time period e.g the Archaeological Museum in Athens, but have became testimonies to man's achievements. There are more than 17, 000 museums in the United States aloe (wonderopolis.org). Modern museums in Nigeria as in most parts of Africa are colonial creations. Nigeria has a total of more than 30 museums and galleries, which are spread throughout the country and are particularly in good supply in Benin City, Calabar, Kaduna, Kano and around Lagos. Museums in Nigeria help to preserve the culture and history of Nigeria. Several of the museums focus on specialist subjects such as archaeology, history, art, transport etc (Worid Guides, 2015),