When someone needs a psychiatrist rather than a therapist, the first question is where to go. In Kano the answer is mostly one hospital, Dawanau, with the teaching hospital on Zaria Road as the other public option. Here is what each offers, how to get seen, and what to do tonight if it can’t wait.
The main psychiatric hospital in Kano is the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital at Dawanau, in Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area, with its postal address on Katsina Road. It runs emergency services around the clock, with doctors on call, and treats adults, children, older people and people with drug and alcohol problems. Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) on Zaria Road also has a psychiatry department.
Psychiatrist, psychologist or therapist: who do you need?
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specialises in mental illness. Psychiatrists diagnose, prescribe medication, order tests and admit people to hospital. Psychologists, counsellors and therapists provide talking therapy and don’t prescribe.
Go to a hospital psychiatrist when:
- Someone is hearing or seeing things others don’t, or holds fixed false beliefs, such as being poisoned or followed.
- Someone has been sleepless, elated and reckless for days, or so low they can’t eat, work or leave the house.
- There are thoughts of suicide with a plan.
- Someone needs to come off alcohol, sedatives or opioid painkillers, which can need medical supervision.
- Someone may need medication, or their medication isn’t working.
- An older relative is becoming confused or forgetful.
For anxiety, low mood, grief, stress and relationship trouble, a therapist is usually the right first step, and many people see both. Our guide to therapists, counsellors and psychiatrists explains the difference, and therapy or medication? covers how the two work together.
Public hospitals
Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Dawanau
Federal psychiatric hospital. Dawanau, Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area. Postal address: P.M.B. 11923, Katsina Road, Kano.
Most people in Kano know it simply as Dawanau. It began in 1936 as an asylum at Gwaron Dutse, run by the Kano Native Authority, moved to its present site in 1979, and for decades was the Kano State psychiatric hospital. The state asked the federal government to take it over, the handover was completed in May 2023, and it has run as a federal neuropsychiatric hospital since June 2023. It has 160 beds in seven wards and an outpatient unit with six consulting rooms.
- What’s there: general adult psychiatry, addiction psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, psychiatry for older adults, forensic psychiatry, emergency psychiatry, psychotherapy, neurology and community psychiatry, plus occupational therapy and clinical psychology units. The hospital now also offers general medical services, and it has a pharmacy and a laboratory on site.
- Opening hours: the hospital says its emergency services, with doctors on call, run 24 hours a day, and it lists its outpatient and inpatient clinic services, pharmacy and laboratory as 24-hour services too. It doesn’t publish a clinic-day timetable, so ask which day your clinic runs when you register.
- How to get seen: you can walk in, be brought by family, or come with a referral letter. The hospital’s website also has an appointment request form for new and follow-up visits, which it confirms by phone or email.
- Phone: 0810 522 6705, which the hospital labels its hotline and emergency line. Email: info@fnhkano.gov.ng.
Last checked: 3 November 2026, from fnhkano.gov.ng. Confirmed by phone: [DATE: fill in before publishing].
Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH)
Federal teaching hospital. No. 1 Zaria Road, Kano. Postal address: P.M.B. 3452.
AKTH is a 500-bed general teaching hospital, and the clinical home of Bayero University’s medical faculty, which lists a Department of Psychiatry. The hospital’s own website doesn’t list its departments, clinic days or a psychiatry number, so start with the main line and ask to be directed to the psychiatry clinic.
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- What’s there: a psychiatry department within a general hospital, which means you can also be seen for physical illness, tests and emergencies on the same site. The hospital doesn’t publish the department’s clinics or sub-specialties.
- How to get seen: teaching hospitals usually see non-emergency cases by referral, from a general outpatient clinic, a general hospital or a private doctor. Ask the telephone room whether you need one.
- Phone: the hospital publishes 0812 892 9195 as its telephone room. Email: info@akth.gov.ng.
Last checked: 3 November 2026, from akth.gov.ng and fcs.buk.edu.ng. Confirmed by phone: [DATE: fill in before publishing].
Other hospitals in Kano
Kano State runs several large hospitals, including Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital, but none of them publishes a psychiatric clinic on an official website, so we haven’t listed them. A general hospital’s emergency department will still treat someone in crisis and can refer you on to Dawanau.
The nearest other federal neuropsychiatric hospital is in Barnawa, Kaduna. Its 24-hour crisis line is 0803 272 2243, and our Abuja guide describes it.
Drug and alcohol help in Kano
Kano’s drug problem is severe enough that in July 2026 the state governor set up a multi-agency task force on it and said the state had opened separate rehabilitation centres for men and for women. The state hasn’t named those centres or said how to get into them, so we can’t list them.
What you can use now:
- Dawanau’s addiction psychiatry unit. This is the place for anyone who is physically dependent, because stopping alcohol or sedatives suddenly can be dangerous and coming off opioid painkillers is safer with medical support.
- NDLEA’s counselling and rehabilitation centre at the Kano State Command on Airport Road. NDLEA’s own guidelines say its centres are for people who aren’t physically dependent, or who have finished a medically supervised withdrawal. Its free 24-hour helpline is 0800 1020 3040.
Our guide to choosing a rehab centre explains what good treatment looks like and how to spot a dangerous one, and our addiction page covers the condition itself.
What happens at your first visit to Dawanau
The hospital publishes its own step-by-step pathway, which runs like this:
- Pay first. The pay points take payment for treatment, tests, medicines and admission, so go there before anything else and keep the receipt.
- Records. Staff open a file, give you a hospital number and take your details. Hand over your payment receipt and any referral letter.
- Nursing. A nurse records your blood pressure, temperature and weight, and notes any allergies and medicines you’re taking.
- Consultation. A doctor sees you, makes a diagnosis and decides what comes next. That may be tests, medication, therapy, a clinic appointment or admission.
- Laboratory and pharmacy, if the doctor orders tests or medicines. Each is paid for at the accounts desk.
- Follow-up. Book your next appointment before you leave, and keep your hospital number and receipts for every later visit.
Bring someone who knows what has been happening, a list of any medicines already tried, and money for registration, consultation, tests and medicines. First visits at a busy public hospital can take most of a day, so go early.
Children and teenagers
Both hospitals see children. Dawanau has a child and adolescent psychiatry service, and you can ask for it on the hospital’s appointment form. If your child’s school has a counsellor, they can help you prepare for the visit. Parents who are struggling themselves can book their own session with a family and parenting therapist.
If admission comes up
Nigeria’s National Mental Health Act 2021 applies in Kano as everywhere else:
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- Treatment needs informed, written consent after the options, risks and costs are explained.
- Someone admitted voluntarily who asks to leave must be allowed to go within 24 hours, unless they meet the Act’s strict conditions for involuntary care.
- Admission against a person’s will is allowed only in narrow circumstances, such as a serious likelihood of imminent harm, and can be appealed.
- Nobody may be chained or shackled, anywhere.
Our guide to Yaba Left walks through these rights at a federal neuropsychiatric hospital, and the same rules apply at Dawanau.
What it costs
Neither Dawanau nor AKTH publishes its fees. Public hospitals charge for registration, consultation, tests, medicines and admission, and Dawanau asks you to pay before you’re registered. Call ahead and ask the cost of registration and a first consultation.
If you’re on NHIA, the standard benefit package covers consultations with specialists, psychiatrists included. Ward stays are capped at 21 days a year and need a referral, and higher-level services need your HMO’s approval. Ask the hospital’s NHIA desk before you rely on cover. Our guide to whether your HMO covers therapy shows what to ask.
If it’s an emergency now
- If someone is in immediate danger, call 112.
- Psychiatric emergencies: the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital at Dawanau says its emergency services run 24 hours, with doctors on call. Any hospital emergency department can also help.
- To talk to someone now: Safe Place Nigeria on 0800 800 2000, free and open 24 hours. SURPIN’s suicide prevention line is 0800 078 7746, and it also runs a Hausa line on 0814 224 1007.
Our helplines page lists more.
Where Mytherapist.ng fits
Our therapists provide talking therapy by video, voice or chat. They don’t prescribe medication or admit anyone. If you need a psychiatrist, start with the hospitals above. Therapy can run alongside psychiatric treatment, and because sessions are online you can find a therapist from Kano without a long trip across the city. A small number of our therapists work in Hausa.
Other city guides: Lagos, Abuja, and every federal and teaching hospital by state.
Addresses and phone numbers were taken from each hospital’s own website on 3 November 2026. Last checked by phone: [DATE: fill in before publishing]. Numbers change, so call before you travel.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the psychiatric hospital in Kano?
The Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital is at Dawanau, in Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area. Its postal address is P.M.B. 11923, Katsina Road, Kano.
Is Dawanau a state or federal hospital?
Federal. It was the Kano State psychiatric hospital for decades, and the federal government took it over in May 2023. It has run as the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Dawanau since June 2023.
Can I go to Dawanau without a referral?
Yes. You can walk in, be brought by family or come with a referral letter, and the hospital’s website has an appointment request form for new visits.
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What is the Dawanau hospital phone number?
The hospital publishes 0810 522 6705 as its hotline and emergency line. Its email is info@fnhkano.gov.ng.
Does Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital have a psychiatric clinic?
Yes. Bayero University’s medical faculty, which is based at AKTH, lists a Department of Psychiatry. The hospital doesn’t publish the clinic’s days, so call its telephone room on 0812 892 9195 and ask.
Is there a drug rehabilitation centre in Kano?
Dawanau has an addiction psychiatry unit, and NDLEA runs a counselling and rehabilitation centre at its Kano State Command on Airport Road. The state government says it has opened separate centres for men and women but hasn’t published their names or locations.
This article is awaiting clinical review. It’s based on published research and health guidelines, and we’ll update it once a clinician has reviewed it.
