More than a year after the federal government announced that construction of Nigeria’s long-abandoned National Library headquarters would resume on June 1, 2025, the project site remains inactive. The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, pledged to inspect the project in Abuja, where he announced that construction would resume with dedicated funding from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), reports Weekend Trust.
“The Federal Ministry of Education is pleased to announce that construction work on the National Library will recommence on June 1, 2025,” the ministry informed in a statement after the visit, describing the move as a significant step towards completing a project that has remained stalled for nearly two decades.
Alausa attributed the planned resumption to what he described as the Tinubu administration’s political will.
“We now have dedicated funds from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund that will enable us to move back to the site on or before June this year,” the minister said.
He also assured Nigerians that the government had adopted a phased approach to reviving the project.
“Our approach is both innovative and pragmatic. Even though earlier estimates placed the remaining cost at N90 billion, with revised costs expected to run into the hundreds of billions, we are committed to moving the project forward efficiently with the resources at hand,” he also said.
According to the minister, the first phase would focus on completing basement levels one and two, the ground floor, first floor, second floor and external works before work progresses to subsequent phases.
During another inspection months later, Alausa again reaffirmed the government’s commitment despite rising costs.
“Even the quotation by the contractor a few years ago to complete the project was N90 billion.
“If we have to go back to do the costing, it would cost hundreds of billions. What we have been able to do is to be innovative in moving this project forward. We will begin by finishing basement level one, basement level two, the ground floor, first floor, second floor, and external works.
“We have enough funds to complete it, but we are still waiting for the final cost based on what the consultants will put together concerning the bill of quantities. And the contractor will come back to us on how much it is going to cost to do this level of construction,” he said.
The minister further disclosed that President Bola Tinubu had directed TETFund to release funds for the project.
Despite these assurances, however, there has been no visible construction activity more than a year after the government’s June 1, 2025 deadline.
Responding to enquiries on why work is yet to resume, the Special Adviser on Media and Communication to the Minister of Education, Ikharo Attah, attributed the delay to procurement and administrative procedures.
“The delay is because of the need to comply with procurement processes, as well as getting the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval. He is determined to get the library constructed, but it has to be done procedurally,” Attah said.
His explanation came after officials of the National Library of Nigeria distanced the institution from the execution of the project, insisting that responsibility lies entirely with the Federal Ministry of Education.
The National Librarian and Chief Executive Officer of the National Library of Nigeria, Professor Chinwe Veronica Anunobi, said the institution was merely the end user of the facility.
“It is not our project. It is the project of the ministry. We are just the end users of the facility. The answers to your question lie with the ministry, who are in charge of the project,” she said.
Similarly, the Assistant Director of Information and Public Relations at the National Library, Vershima Orvell-Dio, said the agency had no direct knowledge of the project’s progress.
“The best place to know the stage of the construction of the library is the ministry. The National Library will only know what stage it has reached when we see people on site,” he said during a telephone interview.
The National Library headquarters has become one of Nigeria’s most enduring symbols of abandoned public infrastructure.
Designed in 1981, the project was awarded to Reynolds Construction Company (RCC) in 2006, with an expected completion period of 22 months. Construction stalled in 2012 because of funding constraints, leaving the 11-storey structure only partially completed.
Successive administrations have repeatedly announced plans to revive the project, while the estimated completion cost has continued to rise from N18 billion in 2013 to N38.8 billion in 2016, then N78 billion, N100 billion in 2022, and now, projections approaching N200 billion.
Despite Senate resolutions, interventions by the Governing Board of the National Library, funding approvals under the administrations of former Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari, and a N32.4 billion Federal Executive Council approval in 2023, construction has remained stalled.
In September 2025, First Lady Oluremi Tinubu launched a fundraising campaign in place of birthday gifts to support the completion of the National Library, raising more than N25.5 billion.
“I wish to appeal to those who would like to send a birthday card, cakes, flowers, greetings in the newspapers or gifts to please send the funds to the designated account for a special project close to my heart – the completion of the National Library. This will be the best birthday present I have ever received,” she said.
The initiative attracted mixed reactions. For example, The African Democratic Congress (ADC) argued that completing the National Library was a constitutional responsibility of the federal government.
“Now that Mrs Tinubu has shown interest, what is required is not personal charity but presidential attention. The First Lady should use her influence to impress upon President Tinubu the urgency of completing this project through budgetary allocations,” the party said.
The Federal Ministry of Education has also announced plans to partner with the Qatar National Library through a memorandum of understanding covering digital services, preservation, staff training, technological standards and knowledge exchange.
Despite repeated promises, funding announcements, proposed international partnerships and private fundraising efforts, the government’s commitment to return contractors to the site by June 1, 2025 remains unfulfilled.
For a project conceived more than four decades ago and abandoned for nearly two decades, the absence of construction activities more than a year after government’s self-imposed deadline highlights the persistent gap between official promises and implementation.
The National Library of Nigeria is the country’s foremost institution for preserving Nigeria’s published heritage and promoting access to knowledge. Although its permanent headquarters is located in Abuja’s Central Business District, the landmark 11-storey building remains unfinished and non-operational. Conceived as a world-class national library and information centre, the structure is estimated to be about 44 per cent complete.
Once completed, the building is expected to serve as the country’s central repository of published works. It will collect and preserve all publications produced in Nigeria through the Legal Deposit system, assign International Standard Book Numbers (ISBN) and International Standard Serial Numbers (ISSN) to publishers and house the National Repository, Electronic Data Processing Centre and National Virtual Library. The facility is also designed to include modern reading halls, reference sections, book stacks, exhibition spaces, an auditorium and a printing press.
Pending the completion of the permanent headquarters, the National Library operates from its temporary headquarters at Plot 274, Sanusi Dantata House in Abuja’s Central Business District. From there, the National Librarian and management team oversee the library’s branches nationwide, formulate policies, supervise budgets, manage the National Repository and Virtual Library, process ISBN and ISSN applications, and provide services such as an index to Nigerian newspapers, e-Legal Deposit and the Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC).
For residents of the Federal Capital Territory, however, the FCT Branch in Area 2 serves as the National Library’s main public service centre. Established in 1985, the branch was created to provide library and information services to FCT residents.
Over the years, the branch has grown into a busy public library serving students, researchers, professionals and members of the public. It comprises the Nigerian, foreign monographs, serials, resource centre, e-library and children’s library sections, which together hold 37,075 titles and 72,192 volumes of books and other information resources.
While the temporary headquarters is responsible for administration, regulation and national policy, the FCT branch is where users access most of the National Library’s public services, including reading spaces, reference services and printed and electronic collections pending the completion of the permanent headquarters.
Meanwhile, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the augmentation of the existing contract for the completion and comprehensive furnishing of the long-abandoned National Library of Nigeria Headquarters Complex in Abuja.
The Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, disclosed this over the weekend, describing the approval as a major step towards reviving the 18-year-old project.
Alausa commended President Bola Tinubu for intervening to mobilise funding for the completion of the facility, which has remained unfinished through successive administrations.
Construction of the National Library Headquarters began on April 29, 2006, with an initial two-year completion period. However, work was halted in October 2008, leaving the imposing structure unfinished.
According to Alausa, Tinubu, upon assuming office, directed the ministry to source funds to complete the project, including financial support from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
“President Bola Tinubu, when he came in, mandated that we look for funds, real funds, that we use in completing this National Library,” the minister said.
He also acknowledged the contribution of First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, who directed that gifts received during her birthday celebration be channelled towards the project.
Alausa said the initiative generated about N25 billion, which, alongside funds sourced through TETFund and other interventions, strengthened the financial base for the project.
“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 said.
The minister expressed optimism that construction would resume fully in the coming months, describing the development as a significant milestone for Nigeria’s education sector.
He said the National Library was more than an infrastructure project, describing it as a national knowledge centre that would support learning, research, scholarship, information access and preservation of Nigeria’s intellectual heritage.
Alausa said the project’s revival demonstrated the administration’s commitment to completing critical education infrastructure abandoned for years.
“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.
National Library project stalled by lack of commitment – Ex-NLA President
Speaking to our correspondent, former President of the Nigerian Library Association (NLA), Dr Dominic Omokaro, said the prolonged delay in completing the National Library of Nigeria headquarters is largely due to the lack of commitment by successive administrations to developing the country’s intellectual infrastructure.
Omokaro, who served as the 22nd president of the association, said the project, initiated in 1981 by the administration of former President Shehu Shagari, had suffered years of abandonment despite huge sums spent on its construction.
“The prolonged delay in completing the National Library headquarters is due primarily to the lack of commitment by successive administrations to the development of intellectual infrastructure for our citizens,” he told our reporter.
According to him, a public library remains the “university of the poor”, but successive governments had failed in the long-term value of investing in such infrastructure.
Though he noted that he couldn’t provide the exact amount appropriated for the project over years, the existing substructure and superstructure showed that “huge sums have already been expended on it.”
Omokaro said there were periods of renewed activity under the administrations of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, but work eventually stopped after the 2015 transition.
He said former President Muhammadu Buhari later approved about N50 billion for the project and moved its funding from the regular budgetary system to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
“I was particularly delighted when President Muhammadu Buhari moved the project’s funding from the regular budgetary system to TETFund for completion,” he said.
“Sadly, since 2023, TETFund hasn’t made any visible progress on the project,” he added.
On the fundraising initiative by First Lady Oluremi Tinubu to support completion of the headquarters, Omokaro said he was optimistic that the funds would be properly utilised and transparently accounted for.
He, however, acknowledged that the funds raised may not be sufficient to complete the project, but could help push the government to take further action.
“The seed money raised by the First Lady may not be enough to complete the project but would go a long way in galvanising the government to do the needful and remove the reproach from our beloved nation,” he said.
Describing the condition of the National Library headquarters, Omokaro described it as “poor and neglected”, saying it was unacceptable for the country’s principal repository of intellectual heritage to remain unfinished.
“The state of the Headquarters is a shame of a nation. Why should a library that has existed for over 60 years not have a befitting Headquarters building when it is the repository of our intellectual national heritage?” he asked.
He urged patriotic Nigerians, lovers of books and library users to serve as public watchdogs by monitoring work on the project to ensure transparency and completion.
