Kaduna, city, capital of Kaduna state, north-central Nigeria. It lies along the Kaduna River, which is a major tributary of the Niger River.Sir Frederick (later Lord) Lugard, the first British governor of Northern Nigeria, selected the present site along the Lagos-Kano Railway for a town, and building began in 1913. In 1917 Kaduna (a Hausa word for “crocodiles”) replaced Zungeru, 100 miles (160 km) west-southwest, as the capital of the Northern Provinces; it also served as capital of the Northern Region from 1954 to 1967.
Since the late 1950s, Kaduna has become a major industrial, commercial, and financial centre forthe northern states of Nigeria. It has a branch of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Most industriesare grouped south of the Kaduna River near the main railway junction. The city has cotton-textilespinning and weaving mills; knit fabrics are also produced in Kaduna.