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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2019
Nigeria is a federal state with an estimated population of 120 million, making it the most populous country in Africa. For one hundred years, from 1861 when Lagos was colonized to 1960 when it gained its independence, Nigeria was under British colonial rule. There are about 400 nationalities in the country. In 1914, the Colony of Lagos and the Protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria that had been constituted over time during the colonial enterprise were amalgamated into one single colonial state.
1 Otite, O. Ethnic Pluralism and Ethnicity in Nigeria. Ibadan: Shaneson Press, 1990.Google Scholar
2 Lagos was the nation's capital city from 1914 until 1991 when the seat of government was moved to Abuja in central Nigeria. However, Lagos remains the nation's economic nerve-center.Google Scholar
3 For an history of the development of libraries in Nigeria and the role of colonial government and foreign/international aid agencies, see Kalu, H. U.“International Aid and Public Library Development in Nigeria: The Role Played by Some Aid Agencies” in Jegede, O., ed. Law Libraries in Nigeria: March to the Twentieth-First Century. Lagos: Nigerian Association of Law Libraries, 1998.Google Scholar
4 See Dada, T. O. “Law Library Service Delivery and the Professional Association” in Jegede, O., ed. Law Libraries in Nigeria: March to the Twentieth-First Century. Lagos: Nigerian Association of Law Libraries, 1998.Google Scholar
5 The Sharia Courts of Appeal exist only in 19 Northern States. There, jurisdiction according to the 1979 and 1999 Constitutions is limited to Islamic personal affairs. These are not the courts that were created as part of the controversial introduction of Islamic criminal law systems in some (presently twelve of the nineteen) Northern States. The courts for Islamic criminal law are lower courts. The Nigerian Constitution also allows every state to establish a customary court of appeal as a superior court to hear appeal from lower courts on matters under the purview of customary law, and these do not include criminal matters.Google Scholar
6 Cited in supra fn 5.Google Scholar
7 Dada, T. O. “The Legal and Professional Responsibilities of the Law Librarian” in Ajomo, M. A., ed. New Dimensions in Nigerian Law. Lagos: Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, 1989 at 257.Google Scholar
8 Nweze, C. C.“Continuing Professional Education for Library Staff” in Jegede, O., ed. Law Libraries in Nigeria: March to the Twentieth-First Century Lagos: Nigerian Association of Law Libraries, 1998. 76 p.Google Scholar
9 Ibid.Google Scholar
10 Obilade, A. O. “The law Library of My Choice” in Jegede, O., ed. Law Libraries in Nigeria: March to the Twentieth-First Century. Lagos: Nigerian Association of Law Libraries, 1998. 4 p.Google Scholar
11 Supra fn. 8 at 256.Google Scholar
12 Ibid.Google Scholar
13 The principal officers in order of rank are as follows: Vice-Chancellor, Deputy Vice-Chancellor(s), Registrar, Bursar and the Librarian.Google Scholar
14 In the course of my work I have on several occasions been confronted with hostile statements like “Why are you always making requests for money to subscribe to journals and law reports or acquire books?” “Are you the only librarian?” “What is so special about the law library?”Google Scholar
15 Alemika, E. I. “Legal Information Sourcing and Utilization by Nigerian Legal Practitioners” Nigerian Bar Journal 1:3 (2002): 47–53.Google Scholar