A healthy kola seedling in the nursery is very important for sustainable establishment and high yield of kolanuts in the fields. An investigation was carried out in Akure, in the rainforest zone of Nigeria, to determine the effectiveness of amended forms of wood ash and cocoa husk, turkey, goat and duck manures (sole) as sources of fertilizers, on the growth of kola (Cola acuminate) seedlings in the nursery. For this purpose, nine organic fertilizer treatments [duck manure, goat manure, turkey manure (sole), wood ash/duck manure mix, cocoa husk/duck manure mix, goat manure/wood ash mix, goat manure/cocoa husk mix, turkey manure/cocoa husk mix and turkey manure and wood ash mix] were applied at 8t/ha (40g per 10kg soil filled pots), replicated three times with NPK fertilizer and a control (no fertilizer), and arranged in a completely randomized design. The soil, plant and the organic residues were chemically analysed. The findings revealed that the use of organic residues significantly increased plant height, leaf area, stem girth, root length as well as leaf number of kolanut seedlings, soil and leaf N, P, K, Ca, Mg concentrations, soil pH and O.M contents (p<0.05), relative to the control treatments. The amended wood ash + duck increased the shoot weight, plant height, root length, leaf area, leaf number and stem girth of kolanut by 6%, 27%, 20%, 35%, 27% and 37% respectively, as compared to using the NPK fertilizer. In addition, it was also found to increase the same parameters by 84%, 80%, 72%, 78%, 56% and 82% respectively, as compared to the control treatment. As for the soil chemical composition, duck manure + wood ash were shown to increase the soil N, P, K, Ca, Mg, pH and O.M by 42%, 26%, 38%, 46%, 59%, 6% and 52% respectively, compared to the duck manure (sole). At the same time, it also increased soil K, Ca, Mg, pH and O.M by 51%, 97%, 93%, 29% and 90% respectively, as compared to using the NPK fertilizer. In particular, the treatment using duck manure + cocoa husk increased the leaf N, P, K, Ca and Mg of kolanut seedlings by 12%, 74%, 56%, 69% and 75%, respectively as compared to merely using duck manure (sole). It also increased the same leaf parameters by 42%, 54%, 92% and 84% respectively, as compared to the control treatment. In this study, the NPK fertilizer was found to decrease soil O.M but it increased soil N and P more than the organic residues. The amended duck manure + wood ash and duck manure + cocoa husk, applied at 8tha^-1 (40g/10kg), were found to be the most effective in improving the performance of kolanut seedlings.