N25bn First Lady’s gifts, TETFund funds pooled to revive abandoned National Library – Alausa

The Federal Government has pooled about N25bn raised from gifts received by First Lady Oluremi Tinubu during her birthday celebration with funds from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund to revive the abandoned National Library of Nigeria headquarters complex in Abuja.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, following the Federal Executive Council’s approval of the augmentation of the existing contract for the completion and comprehensive furnishing of the project.

The National Library headquarters project, which commenced on April 29, 2006, was initially scheduled for completion within two years but was abandoned in October 2008.

Eighteen years after construction stopped, Alausa said President Bola Tinubu’s intervention had provided fresh momentum and resources for the project.

The minister said the President directed the ministry to explore available funding sources, including TETFund, to ensure the completion of the complex.

“President Bola Tinubu, when he came in, mandated that we look for funds, real funds, that we use in completing this National Library. He directed that we source funds from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, and we’ve cobbled some funds together,” Alausa said.

Alausa also highlighted the contribution of the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, to the financing of the project.

According to him, the First Lady directed that gifts received during her birthday celebration be channelled towards the completion of the National Library.

He said the decision generated about N25bn, which subsequently became part of the funds being deployed towards the project.

The minister said, “The First Lady, during her birthday, had gifts that she directed should be used for the National Library. That has generated about N25bn.”

He added that the funds were combined with money sourced through TETFund and other efforts to strengthen the financial resources available for the project.

Alausa said, “Combined with the money we’ve sourced from TETFund, the Council today approved the augmentation of the existing contract for the completion of the construction of the National Library of Nigeria Headquarters Building Complex in Abuja.”

He expressed optimism that construction work would resume fully in the coming months, describing the development as a significant milestone for the education sector.

The minister said completing the complex was about more than finishing an abandoned building, stressing that the facility would serve as a national centre for learning, research, scholarship, information access and the preservation of Nigeria’s intellectual heritage.

He said the completion of the project would strengthen the National Library’s capacity to perform its statutory responsibilities and provide Nigerians with a modern national knowledge institution.

Alausa also thanked Tinubu for his intervention, saying the administration had provided the political will to revive the long-abandoned project.

“Abandoned National Library for 18 years, President Bola Tinubu has now been able to mobilise funds, cobbled funds together, for work to go back, to start again at the National Library. We thank you, Mr President,” he said.

Construction of the National Library headquarters began on April 29, 2006, with an initial two-year completion timeline. Work, however, stopped in October 2008, leaving the complex unfinished through successive administrations.

The National Library of Nigeria is the country’s apex library and is responsible for collecting, preserving and providing access to Nigeria’s published intellectual heritage, as well as supporting education, research and scholarship.

The Abuja headquarters was conceived as a major national knowledge centre, but its prolonged abandonment has left the institution without the completed headquarters originally planned for it.

The latest FEC approval of the contract augmentation is expected to facilitate the completion and comprehensive furnishing of the complex after nearly two decades of stalled construction.