In Taraba, students go to other states for library services

They serve the purpose of cataloging or archeving history and culture of society as well as provide people with free opportunity for learning and research through books, magazines, journals, newspapers and other multimedia tools.Libraries serve as veritable centres where students, writers, lecturers, researchers and the generality of the reading public resort to, to get relevant […]

They serve the purpose of cataloging or archeving history and culture of society as well as provide people with free opportunity for learning and research through books, magazines, journals, newspapers and other multimedia tools.
Libraries serve as veritable centres where students, writers, lecturers, researchers and the generality of the reading public resort to, to get relevant information/data for projects they might be embarking upon.
But in Taraba State, the story is different as the state owned library located on Hammanruwa Way, Jalingo, has remained dilapidated for over five years with no activity taking place in the building.
The place which ought to have been playing host to the reading public is currently serving as abode for reptiles and rodents as government has neglected it for years.
Daily Trust gathered that the sorry state of the library began some years back when its roof was blown off by a windstorm and government did not make any effort to repair it.
“Instead of fixing it, government redeployed the staff of the library board to other ministries and parastatals while the public bears the brunt,” a resident of Jalingo, who preferred anonymity, told Daily Trust.
Also, a senior officer attached to the state Library Board, who doesn’t want to be named because he was not in position to speak to the press, told our correspondent that the library was blown off by a windstorm in March 2009 and has remained in a dilapidated state ever since.
He said that the governor of the state, Danbaba Danfulani Suntai, did not give the needed attention to the library and that the running cost for the library was stopped by his administration.
 According to the source, apart from the N300,000 monthly running cost the board received on three occasions from Governor Suntai, the library was left with nothing until June last year when the acting governor, Alhaji Garba Umar, restored it.
On why the government abandoned the facility for five years, the source explained that Governor Suntai had said his administration preferred spending money on infrastructural projects such as roads, hospitals etc.
He lamented that some of the books stocked in the library were destroyed by the windstorm while those that were not damaged are currently being kept in a store at the state Teaching Service Board.
The source said that the library board has over 90 staff and most of them are squatting in offices in the Teaching Service Board while others were posted to secondary schools and the state Primary Education Board.
A recent visit to the library by our correspondent revealed that it was in a deplorable condition, with the roof damaged and windows and doors removed allegedly by vandals.
During the rainy season, the premises of the library is usually taken over by grasses and shrubs. The place is indeed a ghost of its former self and an eyesore to behold.
It was further observed that people have converted the building into a dumping ground where they throw all sorts of rubbish.
Besides, children have also developed the habit of sneaking into the premises of the abandoned library to defecate.
The front of the library has also been converted to a workshop by artisans who fabricate iron gates and display them on the fence of the Library Board to attract interested buyers.
Speaking on the condition of the library, a Jalingo resident, Patience Akawu, said the condition of the library demands urgent attention from the government given the relevance of the facility to education development.
“Students have stayed at home for six months during the just concluded ASUU strike; if there were a functional library for instance, they could have kept themselves busy and avoid the tendency of engaging in nefarious activities”, she said.
A businessman, Victor Kalu, said he has been in the state since 2008 and the library had continued to remain in a dilapidated condition. He wondered what the state Ministry of Education is doing about the situation.
Magdalene Ferim, a student said lack of library has been affecting her study negatively, saying that if there was a library in the state capital, it would motivate students and keep them away from idleness.
On his part, Abubakar Babangida said the condition of the library is a shame to the government and indeed the people of the state, adding that at the time when other states are embracing e-libraries, Taraba cannot boast of a library well stocked with books and modern facilities for the benefit of the people.
“Even when we have tertiary institutions such as the Taraba State University, College of Agriculture, Taraba State Polytechnic, School of Nursing and College of Education, government still does not see it as priority to provide befitting and modern library for the students and other patrons in the state,” he said.
He decried the situation where students carrying out research have to travel to neighbouring states to source for materials due to non-availability of library in the state.
Our correspondent observed that despite the fact that the library has remained in a dilapidated condition with no activity going on there, the sum of N78,235, 200 was budgeted for the Library Board in the 2013 recurrent expenditure of the state.
When contacted, Commissioner for Education, Mathias Danazumi, said government was aware of the condition of the library and is planning to build a modern one for the state, adding that government intends to build a library that will have e-library facilities.
At the moment, it is not clear how soon government can build the new library as no funds was budgeted for that in the 2014 appropriation bill recently presented to the state house of assembly by the executive.