For nearly two decades, the National Library of Nigeria waited behind scaffolding and unfinished concrete in Abuja. However, the project, conceived in 2006 and abandoned two years later, is now at the centre of a renewed completion drive backed by TETFund, N25bn in gifts donated to the First Lady and international collaboration, DEBORAH TOLU-KOLAWOLE writes
For 18 years, the unfinished National Library of Nigeria headquarters in Abuja stood as a reminder of how a project conceived as a monument to knowledge could itself become trapped in the cycle of abandoned public infrastructure.
Construction began in April 2006 with a two-year completion target. By October 2008, work had stopped.
Successive administrations made attempts to revive the project, but the imposing complex remained unfinished.
The latest push, however, has brought the project to a new stage, with the Federal Executive Council approving the augmentation of the existing contract for the completion and comprehensive furnishing of the National Library of Nigeria Headquarters Complex in Abuja.
