Nok

Nok is a village in Kaduna State. The famous Nok culture was named after it.

Understand

Nok head, Nok village junction

The village of Nok is where the famous Nok terracotta were discovered in large concentrations. Afterwards, similar figurines discovered around central Nigeria were named after the village.

Nok is located 7.6 km due north of Kwoi, the Jaba local government area headquarters and 39.4 km (via the Fori-Afana road) west of Kafanchan, the economic capital of the Southern Kaduna area.

Nok has a museum where one could go to see figurines, images and see first-hand, sites like some of the furnaces used in crafting those figurines over 2,000 years ago and the house of Bernard Fagg, the British archeologist who reported those figurines and made them known to the world.

Get in

You can be get to Nok via land and air.

By plane

• 1 Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport (ABV ^IATA) (40.5 km southwest of Abuja and 171.9 km (via Tasha-Bwari road) or 175.8 km (via Keffi-Kwoi road) southwest of Nok). The closest international airport to Nok. Several airlines offer international flights, notably, Lufthansa, KLM, British Airways, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines. Many visitors arrive on connecting flights from Lagos. (updated Jan 2023)
• 2 Kaduna International Airport (KAD ^IATA) (22 km (14 mi) northwest of Kaduna city and 226 km northwest of Nok). Frequent daily flights from Lagos (1 hr 15 min) on Aero Nigeria, Dana Airlines and Air Peace. (updated Jan 2023)
• 3 Minna Airport (MIN  ^IATA) (263.3 km (4hrs 24mins) west of Nok (via Minna-Tagbari road)). The next closest airport to Nok. Air Peace and Aero run a once a day domestic flight from Lagos to Minna. (updated Jan 2023)

By car

• From Abuja: When one chooses to go via the Keffi-Kwoi road which is longer and could take at least 3hrs 3 mins to reach due to the traffic congestion around the Abuja-Karu axis , one could take an Uber or airport cab from the airport to the Sani Abacha Mega Bus Terminal in Karu, Nasarawa State, where one gets a vehicle from the garage to Kwoi at a fare of between ₦2,000 and ₦2,500. From the garage in Kwoi, one boards a car going to Nok village. If one chooses the shorter road, however, one uses same means as above to go to the garage in Bwari where one gets a vehicle going to Kwoi.

Get around

The most popular means of getting around the village is on motorcycle and bicycle, as most of the roads are immotorable.

See

A section of the National Museum Nok, Kaduna State

• 1 Bernard Fagg's Compound. House built in the early 1940s by the British colonial archeologist and museum curator, Bernard Fagg. (updated Jan 2023)
• 2 Furnaces, Nok, 802111, Kaduna. Used for metal smelting by the founders of the Nok culture. (updated Jan 2023)
• 3 Nok National Museum, Nok, 802111, Kaduna (F2XJ+CWG Nok). Although temporarily closed, you could still go around to see the nice traditional architectural works there. You could be lucky to see to find someone to take you into the museum to see one or two terracotta works, images and tell you some tales. (updated Jan 2023)
• 4 Tree of Life, Nok (Mountain top). There is a famous tree said to be so sacred that the native priests who go to it had to be clean from all forms of sin. Otherwise, the tree withers its leaves in grievance. Although, it was said that as the priests could no longer keep to the level of purity required, the tree eventually shed all its leaves. You could go learn more about this story from the natives. (updated Jan 2023)

Do

Hiding cave entrance, Nok Village

Apart from the terracotta and metal smelting discoveries which made it famous, Nok is surrounded by mountains on all sides. But there are those closer to reach than others.

• 1 Cave hiking, Nok, 802111, Kaduna. Try go into the caves, where the people were said to have hidden from their enemies during wars in the ages past, with the help of tour guides you shall find in the village who might charge you some outrageous amounts ranging from ₦6,000 to ₦8,000 to get into a cave and go out from the other end. The inner part of the cave is very dark so, don't forget to hold a bright shining torchlight along. (updated Jan 2023)

Buy

• 1 Dandada Stores, Nok (19 Sarki Road, Nok). Sell food stuff and cosmetic. (updated Jan 2023)

Connect

The network connection strengths around Nok varies from area to area. Some networks do not reach certain parts.

Go next

Nok is a few kilometers from:

• Kachia
• Kafanchan - the largest town in the area and economic capital of Southern Kaduna.
• Kwoi - the local government headquarters of Jaba.