Wife of the president, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, on Tuesday disclosed that she had raised N20.7 billion out of N200 billion required to complete the abandoned 11-storey National Library building in Abuja.
Speaking over lunch at a news briefing at Banquet Hall of State House, Abuja, Mrs. Tinubu, accompanied by the wife of the vice president, Mrs. Nana Shettima, and wives of service chiefs, announced that her 65th birthday fundraiser towards the completion of the National Library realised N20.7 billion.
The first lady added that as at 2pm on Tuesday, September 23, the fund had realised N20.7 billion and was still counting, stating that the account will remain open till December before being shut down.
According to her, “I have played my part in this project, and believe Nigerians can raise the funds needed to complete the library. This is not just a project but a national treasure that will serve generations to come.”
Mrs. Tinubu said the signatories to the account were Minister of Education and Chief Librarian of the Federation, and said her task was only to help drive the funds.
The first lady, while justifying her fund raising for the National Library project, referenced an old Lebanese poet and writer saying, “In his 1925 Essay, ‘The New Frontier,’ Gebran Kalil Gebran, a Lebanese writer, poet, philosopher and artist, wrote, I quote: ‘Are you a politician, asking what your country can do for you or a zealous one, asking what you can do for your country? If you are the first, then you are a parasite, if the second, then you are an oasis in a desert.’
“That is why if we take our baby steps well doing, before long, things will begin to shape up for our country.
“We all have to rise up, play our parts in the building process. A grain of sand and a drop of water makes a mighty ocean.”
The first lady also debunked claims that her 65th birthday anniversary fundraiser was politically motivated, and stressed that it was based on her love for education.
She pointed out that as a teacher, and considering the impact library had on her life while growing up, she was motivated to call for the donations towards the building of the national library.
Mrs. Tinubu stated, “What is wrong in doing well or trying to build our country – if I could assist the post-war building process in Liberia by donating the Oluremi Tinubu Elementary and Junior Secondary School in Monte Serrado County in Liberia, what is wrong in drawing attention to some of the areas of need in our beloved nation.
“This is not the first time I have raised funds for causes close to my heart. For my 45th birthday, I raised N50 million to complete the National Sickle Cell Foundation Centre, which has since become fully operational. For my 50th birthday, I raised N200 million for the New Era Foundation and other charities.”
The National Assembly Library project, initiated in 1981 and approved with funding in subsequent years, had faced decades of funding delay, with the budget escalating from N8.2 billion in 1981 to N23 billion as of 2023.
However, the first said the President Bola Tinubu administration was ready to “take the bull by the horn,” to ensure that construction was completed within two years.
She acknowledged various contributors, including President Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and his wife, former President MuhammaduBuhari, several former first ladies, the senate president and his wife, Speaker of the House of Representatives and his wife, and members of the National Assembly, governors’ forum and governors’ spouses, security chiefs and their wives, business moguls, including Aliko Dangote, Abdulsamad Rabiu, Arthur Eze, Tony Elumelu, Jim Ovia, among other well-wishers.
The National Library headquarters project in Abuja, first mooted in 1981, had been under construction since 2006, when it was awarded for N8.59 billion and expected to be finished in under two years.
However, by 2023 the physical completion rate was about 44 per cent, with estimates ranging from N49.6 billion to more than N120 billion required to finish the complex.
Located between the National Mosque and the National Ecumenical Centre in Abuja, the multi-billion Naira National Library project is a significant and vital national monument that has experienced prolonged delay and rising cost.
It was originally earmarked for completion within three to four years, but had remained incomplete after nearly two decades.
Successive administrations pledged to deliver the project, and in 2025 the federal government directed the Tertiary Education Trust Fund to take over the funding and resume construction.
Deji Elumoye
