The Federal Government plans to establish new branches of the National Library in Delta, Anambra, Ekiti, Kebbi, Kogi and Jigawa States, in its bid to ease access to libraries around the country, the Minister of Education has said.
Adamu Adamu disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja on Friday. He said that for the National Library of Nigeria (NLN) to be present in all states of the country as required by its enabling Act, it has been expanding its branches across the country and rehabilitating existing ones.
Contracts for the renovation of the Lagos, Benue, Nasarawa, Imo, Adamawa, and Plateau branches have been awarded, while others will come on stream 1n 2020,” Adamu said.
He said that efforts were on-going to complete the National Library Headquarters, noting that contract for the project was first awarded in 2006 at a cost of N8 billion. The project cost was reviewed upward to N18 billion in 2013, he said, adding that the work was however stopped by the end of 2013 due to poor-funding.
Adamu said that he had been inundated with enquiries from members of the press seeking explanations for the abandonment of the NLN headquarters in Abuja.
He gave assurance that the present administration “will not abandon any project initiated by any past administration that is adjudged to be in public interest, efforts are on to complete the National Library Headquarters.”
Adamu announced that government was in the process of providing free internet access for National library users, beginning with Lagos, Abuja and Enugu branches. “We have requested Galaxy Backbone to increase our Internet bandwidth in these branches and the process is on-going,” he said.
“We are also expanding completing and renovating e-libraries in all our Unity schools and each school will get qualified librarian to manage the learning resources,” he said.
Cynthia Egboboh, Abuja.
