Post-Conflict Reconstruction of Archives and Libraries in Borno State: A Framework for Information Heritage Recovery

This study examined the destruction and post-conflict reconstruction of archives and libraries in Borno State, North East Nigeria, following prolonged insurgency that devastated the state's information infrastructure between 2009 and 2023. The deliberate targeting of libraries, archives, and cultural heritage institutions during conflict is recognised internationally as a form of cultural violence, and their reconstruction is a dimension of post-conflict peacebuilding. An interpretivist case study design was employed, drawing on interviews with displaced librarians, archivists, community leaders, and reconstruction officials, combined with damage assessment documentation. The study found that the destruction was near-total in some local government areas, with irreplaceable manuscript collections, civil records, and school library resources lost. Reconstruction efforts were fragmented, underfunded, and insufficiently coordinated. Drawing on frameworks for post-conflict cultural heritage recovery and transitional justice, the study developed an original Framework for Information Heritage Recovery applicable to post-conflict settings in sub-Saharan Africa. Keywords: post-conflict reconstruction, archives, Borno State, information heritage, cultural recovery.