Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has reacted to the birthday message of the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, describing it as a reflection of Nigeria’s misplaced priorities.
Obi, in a statement on Sunday, joined Nigerians in wishing the First Lady well on her new age, praying for her continued health and happiness.
However, he expressed shock at her call for well-wishers to donate toward the completion of the National Library in Abuja instead of spending money on cakes or newspaper adverts.
“I join millions of Nigerians in wishing Her Excellency, Mrs Oluremi Tinubu, a happy birthday. May God Almighty, who has been with her all these years, grant her many more healthy, fruitful, and happy years.
“However, I was struck by irony reading her request: that instead of cakes or newspaper adverts, well-wishers should donate toward completing the National Library in Abuja. On the surface, it is noble and selfless. But beneath it lies an indictment of our nation,” Obi said.
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The former Anambra State governor noted that while he once encouraged people to channel funds for adverts into meaningful causes, such efforts were meant to complement the government’s responsibility, not replace it.
“That is why it is shocking that, in our present circumstances, while billions are easily found for jets, yachts, unused mansions, endless trips abroad, and other frivolities, the nation must rely on birthday donations to complete its own National Library,” he said.
Obi lamented the neglect of education and national infrastructure, stressing that the abandonment of the National Library was a symbol of leadership failure.
“What kind of country must beg for charity to build the very temple of knowledge? What kind of leaders waste trillions on luxury and vanity, while the National Library – our intellectual furnace – remains abandoned in the capital? Serious nations treat libraries as sacred; but here we reduce them to afterthoughts, begging bowls, or birthday tokens.”.
He noted that Nigeria’s rise will depend not on material extravagance but on investment in education and knowledge.
“If Nigeria will rise, it will not be on the wings of jets or the splendour of mansions, but on the strength of minds formed in classrooms and nourished in libraries. Until then, the lament remains true—we are finished.”
Although the Federal Executive Council in April 2023 approved ₦32.4 billion for the project, no significant progress has been recorded since. The ICIR checks on government spending related to the National Library through websites that details government spending such as Govspend and Nocopo, shows that there has not been budget allocations or payment made for that purpose since 2023.
Between 2023 and 2025, budgetary allocations for the National Library have mostly gone to personnel cost, salary and recurrent expenses such as power supply.
For instance in 2024, over N5 billion was budgeted for the National Library with about N2.8 billion earmarked for the personnel cost, salary and allowances.
Some capital projects listed include, purchase of furniture, acquisition of non-tangible materials, and purchase of computers, while no fresh capital allocation for the renovation has appeared since 2023.
A project long trapped in limbo
For more than a decade, the National Library of Nigeria has operated from rented offices in Abuja while its permanent headquarters, first awarded in 2006, remains incomplete despite billions of naira already allocated.
The NLN Headquarters, conceived as Nigeria’s flagship repository of knowledge, has been under construction since 2006. The contract, initially awarded for N8 billion, was reviewed to ₦18 billion by 2013 before work was abandoned due to poor funding.
The major headquarters located close to the Abuja National Mosque has been abandoned which in turn resulted in the agency moving to another building in Central Business District, Abuja.
In 2019, then Minister of Education Adamu Adamu announced that N50 billion had been set aside to restart the project, citing exchange rate fluctuations and rising costs as reasons for the sharp increase. Despite the allocation, little progress was made.
Four years later, in April 2023, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved another N32.4 billion for the project’s “completion,” with detailed plans unveiled for the 11-floor building to house book stacks, reading areas, a data processing centre, an auditorium, and other facilities. Yet, over a year into the Tinubu administration, the site remains abandoned.
Federal ministry of education presented a memo for approval for the revised estimated total cost of the contract for the completion of the construction of the National Library of Nigeria headquarters building complex in Abuja. The revised estimated cost is N32.4 billion,” he was quoted to have said.
‘Library on quit notice’
Meanwhile, a source at the National Library told The ICIR that the institution had been served a quit notice by the owner of its rented apartment.
He stated that the agency was owing the owner rent arrears, which may have led to the building being sold to another person.
According to him, efforts are underway to vacate the premises to avoid any embarrassment.
When The ICIR reached out to the Assistant Director of Information and Public Relations of the Library, Orvell Dio, he said he was not aware of the ‘quit notice’ but promised to get back on the current situation.
“I am not aware of that (quit notice). If you hold on, I will ask the relevant office. Something like that would have gone to the legal department. I can find out and let you know,” he said.
Additional reports from ICIR.
