The African Democratic Congress(ADC) has informed the First Lady, Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, that the NationalLibrary of Nigeria cannot be reduced to a personal pet project.
This was in reaction to herintention to support the library’s completion as part of her birthdaycelebrations.
Even though the gesture was applauded by the Minister of Education, Dr. Olatunji Alausa and his counterpart Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, ADC urged the Federal Government to immediately take responsibility for completing the long-abandoned project.
The party, in a statement on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, noted that the National Library, established by an Act of Parliament in 1964, is the custodian of Nigeria’s collective memory and intellectual heritage.
In this regard, it said its completion and long-term maintenance must be prioritized through transparent, sustainable and predictable national funding, not through goodwill donations.
“Now that Mrs. Tinubu has shown interest in the National Library, 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.
“From what we know, the responsibility for its funding was at some point shifted to TETFUND. ‘This explains why there were no direct budgetary allocations for the library in both the 2024 and 2025 budgets.
“But let us be clear: the National Library of Nigeria is far too important to be treated as an after thought or left to depend on the goodwill of well-meaning individuals.
“A nation’s intellectual heritage cannot rest on acts of benevolence, while being deliberately neglected in the appropriation process.
“We thank Mrs. Tinubu for her concern and for drawing attention to this long-neglected project. However, withall due respect, “No ma!” the party stated in the statement.
