Era I — First Republic & first military period (1960–1979) — Kaduna State

15 Jan 1966 — Coup at Kaduna. Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu kills Premier Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, his senior wife Hafsatu and three retainers at the Premier's Lodge, Kaduna. The northern half of the January 15 1966 coup; in many readings, the proximate trigger of the entire post-independence cycle.
29 July 1966 — Counter-coup. Lt-Col Murtala Muhammed and Major Theophilus Danjuma execute Major-General Aguiyi-Ironsi (at Ibadan) and Lt-Col Adekunle Fajuyi; the operational headquarters of the counter-coup is 1 Brigade, Kaduna. Lt-Col Yakubu Gowon becomes Head of State.
May–Sept 1966 — Anti-Igbo pogroms in Kaduna and Zaria. Sabon Gari quarters of both cities sacked; an estimated 5,000–8,000 Igbo killed across the North in the May and September waves; over a million flee east. Direct precipitant of Biafran secession.
1967–70 — Kaduna is the rear headquarters of 1 Division (Hassan Katsina, then Mohammed Shuwa); the city escapes fighting.
1971 — Burning of the Sardauna's library at Kaduna by the new military elite (the "Kaduna Mafia" generation).
1978 — "Ali Must Go" protests at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. National Union of Nigerian Students mobilisation against tuition fees imposed by Education Minister Col. Ahmadu Ali. ABU Zaria is the epicentre; at least 3 students killed nationally; ABU campus shut for the term.Economic Shock Cycle