Fred Ezeh and Charity Nwakudu, Abuja
Federal Government has explained why the headquarter of the National Library of Nigeria (NLN) located in Abuja, was yet to be completed, years after the project was awarded.
The government said that poor funding was the major reason for delay, in addition to exchange rate fluctuations which necessitated regular upgrades and modernization among other variables.
It also explained that it was pursuing alternative sources of funding especially from special intervention funding windows to complete the project.
Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, at a press conference in Abuja, recalled that the project was awarded in 2006 at a total cost of N8 billion, but was not funded adequately.
He added: “By 2013, the project cost was reviewed upward to N18 billion. Work was however stopped by the end of 2013 due to poor-funding. In 2015, the contractor reviewed the cost and submitted a bill of N78 billion to complete the project. In response, we set up a committee to evaluate the project and they submitted a bill of N50 billion.
“We have forwarded the report to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) for further appraisal. The recommendations of the BPP will be forwarded to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for consideration.
“While we await these processes to be completed, we are looking at alternative sources of funding especially from special intervention funding windows.”
He said that with global digitization, the government is considering providing free internet access for library users, beginning with Lagos, Abuja and Enugu branches.
He added: “We have requested Galaxy Backbone to increase our Internet bandwidth in these branches and the process is ongoing. We are also expanding, completing and renovating e-libraries in Unity schools and each school will get a qualified librarian to manage the learning resources.”