The National Archives—Kaduna (NAK), Nigeria

Abstract

Although the archives of Nigeria have been utilized extensively, especially for historical studies, descriptive or introductory notes on them scarcely exist. With the following paper, based on a recent visit to the National Archives in Kaduna in October 1990, 1 want to contribute in filling this gap. The Nigerian Record Office (now National Archives of Nigeria) was established in 1954 on the recommendation and with the efforts of K. O. Dike, who had toured Nigeria and inspected the state of existing archives. Subsequently he became Government Supervisor of Public Records. Initially the archive was situated at the University of Ibadan, until in 1958 the first permanent block was erected.The National Archives in Kaduna is one of the three National Archives in Nigeria, the other two being in Ibadan and Enugu. There is some division of competence between the three archives: Enugu is responsible for the southern parts of Nigeria, Ibadan for the western parts, and Kaduna for the states of Northern Nigeria. The present or former names of regions on which documents are to be found in Kaduna are as follows: Adamawa, Bassa, Bauchi, Benue, Borgu, Borno, Central Province, Gongola, Ilorin, Kabba, Kano, Katsina, Kontagora, Lokoja, Munshi, Muri, Nassarawa, Niger, Nupe, Plateau, Sokoto, Yola, and Zaria. In this listing there are of course regional overlappings; for in the course of history provinces have either been carved out or amalgamated into larger units. In some cases, moreover, more or less identical regions are itemized under different names.