About the Naija Archives Project
The overall aim of the NaijaArchives Project is to improve the accessibility of Nigerian archives based on archivists' and users' experience. While we have worked with the National Archives of Nigeria, we hope that our focus on private archive centres will make it possible to shed light on Nigerian social, cultural or gender dynamics etc.
The three branches of the Nigerian National Archives house the precolonial, colonial and postcolonial records of Nigeria. While these archives have been widely used by scholars, their exact content deserves to be explored in a more systematic manner. There is also a large number of Nigerian private libraries and archives which are open to the public and managed by intellectuals, academics and archivists. Our objective is to promote knowledge of these centres as their use often remains limited beyond their immediate environment.
On another hand, if digital technology has already started a movement to transform social sciences and the humanities, access to sources and production of data can be notoriously difficult in African contexts. Yet, recent Nigerian and international projects have aimed at bridging this gap and led to the creation of several digital archives.
To compensate for this lack of information on Nigerian archives, especially on the internet, IFRA-Nigeria launched in 2018 a programme aiming at protecting and promoting Nigerian archival heritage.
The NaijaArchives Project has three main components:
* The first objective is to list and describe the archive repositories in Nigeria. Our aim is to promote knowledge of these centres by displaying the contact details of the owners / curators, by digitising their catalogues and/or part or totality of their collection. We have built an interactive map of the main public (national, state, university) and private archives of Nigeria. The aim is to crowdsource the content of this list of Nigerian archives in order to obtain a more accurate picture of archival repositories in the country.
* We are also working with Nigerian public and private actors to progressively digitise their catalogues and/or the documents in their archives. We are aware that public as well as private archives represent the point of view of their creators and we make sure to offer a critical introduction of our websites.
* Finally, part of IFRA's Digital Lab, we are organising trainings in digitisation and digital archive management for Nigerian archivists working both for public and private institutions.
Team
The project's team is coordinated by IFRA's director Dr Vincent Hiribarren in cooperation with Dr Sara Panata and Dr Cyrielle Maingraud-Martinaud. The digitisation component is handled by our in-house archivist Patrick Olushola Babalola and the site creation by Dr Vincent Hiribarren. Naija Archives is part of IFRA-Nigeria's Digital Lab, a larger training and resource programme on Digital Humanities.
NaijaArchives in the Media
Team
The project's team is coordinated by IFRA's director Dr Vincent Hiribarren in cooperation with Dr Sara Panata and Dr Cyrielle Maingraud-Martinaud. The digitisation component is handled by our in-house archivist Patrick Olushola Babalola and the site creation by Dr Vincent Hiribarren. Naija Archives is part of IFRA-Nigeria's Digital Lab, a larger training and resource programme on Digital Humanities.
NaijaArchives in the Media