NATIONAL
ARCHIVES DECREE 1992
Decree No. 30
[8th July, 1992]
THE FEDERAL MILITARY GOVERNMENT hereby
decrees as follows:
PART
IV - MISCELLANEOUS
47. Appointment
of the National Archives Advisory Council.
48. Functions of the Council,
etc
49. Regulations.
50. Restriction on the exportation
of oral traditions, etc.
51. Removal and destruction
of archives prohibited.
52. Interpretation.
53. Citation and repeal.
 Appointment
of the National Archives Advisory Council.
47.- (1)
There shall be appointed by the Minister, with the approval
of the National Council of Ministers, a body to the called
the National Archives Advisory Council (in this Decree
referred
to as "the Council”) which shall consist of
(a) a judge of the Supreme Court nominated by the Chief
Justice of the Nigeria, who shall
be Chairman
(b) the Director of National Archives;
(c) the Director of the National Library;
(d) three persons nominated for appointment by the committee
of Vice-Chancellors;
(e) one representative of each of the following
(i) the office of The Presidency;
(ii) the Federal Civil Service Commission;
(iii) the Minister of Defence
(iv) the Chief Archivist, Nigerian Army;
(v) the Federal Ministry of Trade:
(vi) the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
(vii) the Nigerian Police;
(viii) the Director General, National Commission for Museums;
(viii) the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs;
(f) one
person versed in Arabic Studies on the recommendation
of the Director;
(g) one person to represent missionary bodies;
(h) two persons to represent business interests; and
(i) three persons, who are directors or heads of State
archival establishments in Nigeria on
rotational basis.
(2) A
member of the council who is not an ex-officio member
shall be appointed by the Minister on the recommendation
of the body he represents, if any.
(3) A
member of the Council who is not a public officer, shall
hold office for a period of three years from the date
of his appointment and shall be eligible for re-appointment
for one further period of three years; thereafter he shall
no longer be eligible for appointment.
Functions of the Council. etc
48. -
(1) The Council shall
(a) advise the Minister on all matters relating to records
and archives in particular, on the facilities required
for the better and effective preservation and use of archives;
and
(b) assist
and advise the Director in the preparation of departmental
scripts for publication.
(2) Secretariat
assistance shall be provided to the Council by the Director
from the staff of the National Archives;
(3) The
quorum for meetings of the Council shall be ten and subject
thereto, the council shall regulate its own procedure.
Regulations.
49. The
Minster may make regulations for the following matters
(a) the
admission of the public to the National Archives, and
their access to and use of the public archives;
(b) the transfer of any public records to the National
Archives and Federal Records Centres;
(c) the responsibilities of persons having the custody
of public records;
(d) the examination and disposal of public records and
public archives;
(e) the fees to be paid in respect of services provided
by the National Archives; and
(f) generally, the better carring out of the objectives
and purposes of this Decree.
Restriction
on the exportation of oral traditions, etc.
Offences
and penalties
50. - (1)
A person other than a Nigerian who collects oral traditions
or oral history or who prepares a manuscript or any records
pertaining to Nigeria shall, before being granted an
export licence, deposit a copy thereof in the National
Archives
(2) It
shall be the duty of the Director to issue the export
licence mentioned under subsection (1) of this section.
(3) A
person who contravenes the provisions of subsection (1)
of this section is guilty of an offence and liable on
conviction to a fine not exceeding N200
Removal
and destruction of archives prohibited.
51. - (1)
No person shall remove archives from the National Archives,
without the written permission of the Director
(2) No
person shall wilfully damage or destroy archives in the
National Archives.
(3) A person
contravenes the provisions of this section or of any provision
in any section of this Decree for which no special penalty
is specified by this Decree or any written law is guilty
of an offence and liable on conviction, in the case of
an individual to a fine not exceeding N400 or to imprisonment
for a term not exceeding twelve months or to both such
fine and imprisonment, and in the case of body corporate
to a fine not exceeding N2,OOO
Interpretation.
Interpretation
and Citation
52. - (1)
In this Decree, unless the context otherwise requires
–
"archives"
means records which have value for permanent preservation
or have been selected for transfer or have been transferred
to an archival establishment.
"business
houses or companies" means companies registered under
the Companies and Allied Matters Act, excluding private
companies as defined in the Act and Government owned companies;
"Council"
means the National Archives Advisory Council established
by this Decree;
"Director"
means the Director of National Archives appointed in accordance
with this Decree;
"functions"
includes powers and duties
"general
schedules" means retention and disposal schedules
of keeping records, that is, of records common to most
or to a number of, public offices;
"Minister"
means the Minister charged with responsibility for National
Archives;
"National
Archives" means the public office established by
virtue of section 1 of this Decree.
"non-current
records" means records that have ceased to be in
current use and includes closed volumes of files, registers
or other assemblies of records;
"private
body" includes non- governmental association, society,
or other grouping of persons, a family or private company
established under the Companies Allied Matters Act, excluding
business house or public company dealt with in sections
45 and 46 of this Decree.
"public
office" means any Ministry, department, bureau, commission,
board, corporation council, agency, company or any other
office of the Federal Government and includes the Federal
High Court, the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court of
Nigeria and the National Assembly;
"records"
means all papers, registers, printed matters, books, maps,
plans, photographs, microfilms, cinematographic films,
sounding recordings, or other documentary materials regardless
of physical form or characteristics made or received by
public or State offices, or by business houses or companies,
private bodies or individuals in pursuance of their legal
obligations or in connection with the transaction of their
proper business, but does
not include library or museum material made or acquired
solely for reference or exhibition purposes, extra copies
of records kept only for convenience of reference or stocks
of publications;
"retention
and disposal schedules" are lists showing which records
are to be transferred to an archival establishment or
disposed of and when
"State
office" means any Ministry, department, bureau, commission,
board, corporation, council, agency, company or any other
office of the Government of the State in Nigeria and includes
the High Court of a State and the House of Assembly of
a State.
(2) Where records created at different dates are, for
administrative purposes kept together in one file or other
assembly, all the
records in that file or assembly shall be treated for
the purposes of this Decree as having been created when
the latest of those records was created.
Citation
and repeal
53. (1)
This Decree may be cited as the National Archives Decree
1992
(2) The
Public Archives Act is hereby repealed.
MADE at Abuja this 8th day of July, 1992
General I.B. BABANGIDA
President, Commonder-in-chief
Of the Armed Forces.
Federal
Republic of Nigeria
EXPLANATORY
NOTE
(This note
does not form part of the above but it is intended to
explain its purport)
The Decree
establishes a Federal Department called the National Archives
of Nigeria and charges it with the permanent custody,
care and control of an archives of the Federal Government.
PUBLISHED
BY AUTHORITY OF THE FEDERAL MILITARY GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA
AND PRINTED BY THE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION, PRINTING DIVISION,
LAGOS
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