Work To Resume On Nigeria’s National Library Headquarters
Education minister says work will be completed in 21 months.
Nigeria’s Minister of Education Tahir Mamman has stated that the long-delayed construction of the National Library headquarters building in Abuja will be completed within 21 months.
Speaking on 29 August during a tour of the project, Mamman said: “This project is too important for Nigeria … to [remain] uncompleted for … close to 20 years now. We know the importance of a library, not to [mention] a national library.
“The mandate for us now is that we are looking ahead, not backwards to what was the problem. Our resolve now is to deliver on [the project].”
According to the state-owned News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the library headquarters contract was awarded to the local Reynolds Construction Company Nigeria in 2006. At the time, the project was expected to take 22 months to complete and cost N8.6 billion (US$11.7 million).
In April 2023, the local Cable Newspaper reported that a "revised” amount of about N32.4 billion (US$44.1 million) had been approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to complete the project, citing the Minister of State for Education at the time Goodluck Opia.
As reported by NAN, the scope of work for the library building includes the construction of a concrete structure consisting of 11 floors, two basement floors and eight upper floors.
Perimeter fencing, gatehouses, internal roads, electrical and mechanical services and other external works are also included in the scope of work.
Photo: Site inspection tour (Source: Facebook @ National Library of Nigeria)
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