National Library: A 19-Year National Disgrace That Must End

THE National Library of Nigeria in Abuja, conceived nearly two decades ago as an 11-floor architectural landmark, has become a tragic monument to official negligence. Since its contract was first awarded in 2006, the project has suffered endless delays, contract variations, and redesigns. What should have stood as a beacon of knowledge is now an uncompleted shell—mocking Nigeria’s claim to seriousness as a nation.

This failure is not just a matter of bricks and mortar. It reflects an entrenched anti-intellectual culture among successive governments. A state that cannot prioritise its repository of knowledge signals contempt for literacy, research, and intellectual development. That is the real shame.

The original contract, awarded to Reynolds Construction Company at ₦8.590 billion with a 22-month deadline, has since ballooned into a scandal. By 2013, costs had climbed to ₦48 billion. By 2017, ₦50 billion. Today, estimates suggest ₦218.44 billion may be required to complete the project. Each review, each alteration, each abandoned deadline exposes the rot of bad governance and a lack of political will.

The latest twist is deeply disturbing: appeals to ordinary Nigerians to fund completion through charity. In September, First Lady Senator Remi Tinubu urged well-wishers to forgo birthday gifts and instead donate towards finishing the National Library. While noble in sentiment, the appeal underscores just how far the state has abdicated its duty. A National Library is not a birthday present; it is a constitutional and civilisational necessity.

Charity must not replace responsibility. Nigeria has found the political will to fund luxuries and subsidies. In 2024 alone, ₦142 billion was budgeted for six bus terminals, ₦90 billion poured into Hajj subsidies, and ₦39 billion spent on renovating the International Conference Centre. Yet the National Library—an institution that underpins education, research, and national identity—remains unfinished after 19 years. This is indefensible.

The cost of this neglect is severe. The National Library is not merely a warehouse for books. It is the custodian of Nigeria’s intellectual heritage, the legal depository for all published works, a centre for research, innovation, ICT-driven services, and archiving. Its absence cripples the nation’s ability to nurture a reading culture, leaving a vacuum filled by shallow distractions, social media addiction, and intellectual decline.

Internationally, Nigeria has become a laughingstock. At global conferences of national librarians, Nigeria is consistently singled out for failing to deliver its library. “What is holding the project?” colleagues ask, and there is no credible answer. Even when TETFund set aside ₦15 billion in 2021 to fast-track the project, red tape and lack of urgency buried the effort.

The embarrassment extends to the so-called branches of the National Library across the states. Many are ghost libraries—dusty, unequipped, without electricity or trained staff. A survey once concluded that “if you have seen one, you have seen all.” This is the portrait of a nation that treats knowledge as an afterthought.

Contrast this with societies that value civilisation. In the UK, even a minor cut in library funding provoked outrage, with author Philip Pullman warning against “the slow death of civic decency.” In Nigeria, however, leaders preside over the slow death of intellectual culture in silence.

The message must be clear: completing the National Library is not optional, not charity, not a favour. It is a national duty. President Bola Tinubu’s government must summon the political will to sweep away the excuses, release the necessary funds, and finish the project. Bureaucratic bottlenecks should not strangle a project of this magnitude.

For nearly three decades since its relocation from Lagos in 1995, the National Library has operated out of a rented building in Abuja. This is an open wound on Nigeria’s national honour. Every day it remains unfinished, it deepens our disgrace.

The National Library must be completed, equipped, and modernised—not tomorrow, not at the whim of charity, but now. Anything less is a betrayal of Nigeria’s past, present, and future.