Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade Centre and a major transportation hub as the gateway to northern Nigeria, with its rail and important road network. The population of Kaduna was at 760,084 as of the 2006 Nigerian census. Rapid urbanization since 2005 has created an increasingly large population, now estimated to be around 1.3 million. The project population of people in Kaduna state as at 2021 is 8.9 million people.

Etymology

The etymology of the word ''Kaduna'' is said to be a corruption of the Hausa word for "crocodiles", ''Kaddani'' in the

Hausa language Hausa (; /; Ajami: ) is a Chadic language spoken by the Hausa people in the northern half of Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Benin and Togo, and the southern half of Niger, Chad and Sudan, with significant minorities in Ivory Coast. Hausa is a member ...

(''kaduna'' being the plural form). Another version of the name proposes a link to the Gbagyi word/name 'Odna', meaning 'river'.

History

Kaduna was founded by British colonists in 1900. The first British governor of Northern Nigeria, Sir Frederick Lugard, chose the present site for development due to its proximity to the Lagos-Kano Railway. It became the capital of Nigeria's former Northern Region in 1917, and retained this status until 1967. The city is still influential as the headquarters of various political, military and cultural organizations especially in northern Nigeria.

Economy

River Kaduna and Old Railway Bridge, Another View

Industries

Kaduna is a major industrial centre in Northern Nigeria, manufacturing products like textiles,

machinery A machine is a physical system using power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromolecule ...

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

, aluminium, petroleum products and bearings. However, the textile industry has been in decline due to recent Chinese imports and factory closures caused by years of neglect during the military dictatorship in Nigeria. Other light manufactures include:

plastics Plastics are a wide range of synthetic polymers, synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their Plasticity (physics), plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be Injection moulding, moulded, Extrusion, e ...

pharmaceuticals A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and rel ...

, leather goods, furniture, and televisions. Agriculture is also a major industry in Kaduna, and as such, the Bank of Agriculture has its headquarters in the city. Some of the main agricultural exports include: cotton, peanuts, sorghum, and ginger. Kaduna also has a branch of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Automobile manufacturing also remains an important part of Kaduna's economy. Peugeot Automobiles Nigeria has an assembly plant in Kaduna. Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC), one of Nigeria's four main oil refineries is located in Kaduna. It is supplied by a pipeline from the Niger Delta oil fields. A 2009 World Bank survey states that Kaduna is one of the top six cities with the highest unemployment. 20% of the population was estimated to be unemployed.

Sports and tourism

There is a large racecourse named Murtala Mohammed Square, approximately round, inside which is found the Kaduna Polo Club.

Kaduna Golf Club Kaduna Golf Club (since 1921) is a golf club located in Kaduna, Kaduna State Nigeria. The golf club is the first golf club in Northern Nigeria with a number of more than 750 members, it has a single golf course with a distance of 0.9 km and p ...

is also located within the Kaduna CBD. Other Sports facilities include the Ahmadu Bello Stadium and

Ranchers Bees Stadium Ranchers Bees Stadium (aka Kaduna Township Stadium) is a multi-purpose arena in Kaduna, Nigeria. It is currently used mostly for football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal ...

. There are several hotels in the city.

Infrastructure

The infrastructure network in the city are currently being developed under the administration of Nasir el-Rufai. Kaduna has an inland dry port. The Nigerian military has several installations in the city including the Nigerian Defence Academy.

Airport

The city is served by

Kaduna International Airport Kaduna Airport is an airport serving Kaduna, the capital of Kaduna State in Nigeria. The airport is around northwest of the city. The airport opened in 1982. Kaduna also has an older airport located on the northern edge of the city. The airp ...

. The airport commenced operations in 1982. The Nigerian Air Force maintains a presence in the city.

Railways

Kaduna is also on the route of the planned

Lagos–Kano Standard Gauge Railway The Lagos–Kano Standard Gauge Railway is a -long standard gauge railway under construction in Nigeria. Once complete, the railway will connect the Atlantic Ocean port city of Lagos to Kano, near the border with Niger, passing through the nat ...

, which has been completed between the national capital of

Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

and Kaduna. Trains for

depart from the Rigasa Railway Station in Kaduna. Kaduna is an important junction on Nigeria's Cape gauge railway network. At Kaduna, a branch line connects the Lagos–Nguru Railway to the Port Harcourt–Maiduguri railway.

Education

Kaduna is popularly known as the centre of learning, as evident from the numerous educational institutions located in the state. Tertiary Institutions in Kaduna city include: * Kaduna State University * Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna * Greenfield University Kaduna * National Open University of Nigeria, Kaduna Study Center * Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna * National Teachers Institute (NTI), Kaduna * School of Midwifery Kaduna * Kaduna Polytechnic (1968), Kaduna * National board for Islamic and Arabic studies *Kaduna Business School *

Dialogue Institute Kaduna Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American and British English spelling differences, American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literature, literary and theatrical form that depicts suc ...

*Institute of Ophthalmology, National Eye Centre, Kaduna. *National board for Arabic and Islamic studies *National center for nomadic education *Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State

Places of worship

Among the places of worship, there are churches and mosques.

Sultan Bello Mosque Sultan Bello Mosque ( ar, ) also known as The Kaduna Central Mosque, is one of the largest mosques in Kaduna State, Nigeria, built in 1962. It is named after the then Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Bello the son of Usman dan Fodio. The present Chi ...

is the biggest and a central mosque in Kaduna. There are also churches: Church of Nigeria ( Anglican Communion),

Presbyterian Church of Nigeria The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria is a Presbyterian church in the Nigeria and subscribes to the Westminster Confession of Faith. The denomination has ten synods, more than 50 presbyteries and over 4,000 congregations, and almost 8,000 ministers a ...

( World Communion of Reformed Churches), Nigerian Baptist Convention ( Baptist World Alliance),

Living Faith Church Worldwide Living Faith Church Worldwide (also known as Winners' Chapel) is an Evangelical charismatic Christian denomination and a megachurch. The headquarters is located in Ota, Nigeria. The organization has since become a global network of churches w ...

, Redeemed Christian Church of God,

Assemblies of God The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...

, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kaduna ( Catholic Church),

Mountain of fire and miracles ministries, North central 2 Mega Regional HQ A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...

(http://www.mountainoffire.org), Universal Reformed Christian Church, Kaduna (Protestant Church).

Climate

Notable people

* Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the "underwear bomber" suspect of the terrorist arson attempt on

Northwest flight 253 The attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 occurred on December 25, 2009, aboard an Airbus A330 as it prepared to land at Detroit Metropolitan Airport following a transatlantic flight from Amsterdam. Attributed to the terrori ...

in December 2009, grew up here and returned to the city on holiday. *

Tijani Babangida Tijani Babangida (born 25 September 1973) is a Nigerian former professional footballer, who played as a winger. Known for his pace, his playing style was sometimes compared to that of Marc Overmars. Babangida spent the majority of his playing c ...

, footballer who played winger with Ajax * Celestine Babayaro, footballer who played mainly in the Premier League * Michael Eneramo, footballer * Fiona Fullerton, British actress and former Bond girl *

Leke James Leke Samson James (born 1 November 1992) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Sivasspor in Süper Lig. Club career Early career He started out his career in his native homeland playing for Bridge Boys. Aalesund He tr ...

, footballer * Shehu Musa Yaradua politician and elder statesman * Zamani Lekwot, statesman * Umaru mutallab Nigerian business mogul *

Hassan usman katsina Hassan Usman Katsina (31 March 1933 – 24 July 1995), titled Chiroman Katsina, was the last Governor of Northern Nigeria. He served as Chief of Army Staff during the Nigerian Civil War and later became the Deputy Chief of Staff, Supreme Headqua ...

elder statesman. * Magaji Muhammed politician and elder statesman. *

Mamman daura Mamman Daura (born 1939) is a Nigerian newspaper editor who edited and later managed the '' New Nigerian'' from 1969 to 1975. He is a nephew of President Muhammadu Buhari; and a prominent member of the infamous Kaduna Mafia, a loose group of ...

elder statesman *

Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi (born 8 August 1956) is a Nigerian politician and the former Chairman of the People's Democratic Party. He was governor of Kaduna State in Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007, and was elected Senator for Kaduna North in ...

, politician *

Mohammed Namadi Sambo Mohammed Namadi Sambo (born 2 August 1954) is a Nigerian politician who was Vice President of Nigeria from 19 May 2010 to 29 May 2015. He previously served as Governor of Kaduna State from 2007 to 2010. Early life Namadi was born on 2 August 19 ...

, politician * Shehu Sani, politician * Uba Sani, politician * Dahiru Sadi, footballer *

Adam A Zango Adam A. Zango is a Nigerian actor, singer, dancer, Screenwriter, scriptwriter, director, film producer, occasional voice-over, television personality, and philanthropist. He has appeared in over 100 films and received many accolades. Zango has a ...

, Kannywood actor, musician, singer and dancer. * Talib Zanna (born 1990), basketball player in the Israel Basketball Premier League * Efe Ambrose, footballer who played for the Nigeria national football team was born and raised here

References

External links

{{Authority control State capitals in Nigeria Populated places in Kaduna State Cities in Nigeria 1913 establishments in the Northern Nigeria Protectorate Populated places established in 1913