[1] NAN was formed in part to disseminate news easily across the country and to the international community and also as a means to counter negative stories about Nigeria.
[2] On 10 May 1976, a decree establishing the agency was promulgated into law but its operations began two years after.
In March 1978, a board of directors was inaugurated while on 2 October 1978 pilot news operations began.
[3] NAN provides General News Service to subscribers in three bulletins published daily.
[4] The agency has a network of reporters covering all the states of the federation proving to be a valuable source of news reports published by regional and national newspapers who lack a country wide coverage.