FG PLEDGES N25BN TO RESURRECT ABANDONED NATIONAL LIBRARY HQ

The Federal Government has mobilised about N25 billion to revive the long-abandoned headquarters of the National Library of Nigeria in Abuja, in a fresh push to complete the stalled project.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this, saying the fund was assembled from donations received by First Lady Oluremi Tinubu during her birthday celebration and allocations from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund.

Alausa said the government was determined to end the years of delay surrounding the project and restore the facility to its intended role as the country’s premier centre for knowledge, research and preservation.

The National Library headquarters, which has remained largely uncompleted for years, has attracted public concern over the prolonged abandonment of a project regarded as critical to Nigeria’s education infrastructure.

According to the minister, the new funding arrangement is expected to provide the financial backing required to accelerate work on the complex and bring the project closer to completion.

When completed, the facility is expected to offer modern library and research services to students, academics, researchers and the general public, while serving as a national repository for Nigeria’s documentary heritage.

The intervention also signals renewed government efforts to rescue a project that has for years stood as a symbol of stalled public infrastructure in the nation’s capital.

Alausa said the government would work to ensure the project is completed and transformed into a world-class facility capable of supporting learning, research and the preservation of the nation’s intellectual heritage.