Nigeria’s National Library: But for Remi Tinubu…

Driving along the Central Business District (CBD) in Abuja offers an exhilarating sense of pride in the fast-tracked development of the country’s capital city. The multiplicity, pace and scale of emergence of modern towering buildings, which are daily re-defining the city, can be intimidating until one comes across one of these structures, which condition unmistakably […]

Driving along the Central Business District (CBD) in Abuja offers an exhilarating sense of pride in the fast-tracked development of the country’s capital city.

The multiplicity, pace and scale of emergence of modern towering buildings, which are daily re-defining the city, can be intimidating until one comes across one of these structures, which condition unmistakably tells a different story.

It is the headquarters of the National Library of Nigeria (NLN) sitting like the stump of an abandoned dream. It has been abandoned for so long that even the construction cranes on the site are showing signs of rustiness. That is what is left of a once credible and noble initiative to avail the country of a state-of-the-art library headquarters and enhance its readership and scholarship disposition.

It is against such a backdrop that the recent intervention to save the facility by Senator Oluremi Tinubu, wife of Nigeria’s president, fits into a refreshing context. Born 65 ago, this year marked the landmark Saphire Jubilee for her. And trust Nigerians, in their usual effusiveness, those connected to her and even others not so endowed but have intent on grabbing an upgrade in access to the corridors of her circle, were disposed to lavish her with birthday felicitations and sundry gifts.

But in a rare show of patriotic inclinations, she did the unthinkable by appealing to all who would bequeath her with gifts to direct them to the completion of the abandoned National Library headquarters building. And so far, that initiative has yielded as much as over N20 billion. While such a huge amount of money may not be adequate for the completion of the edifice – going by Nigeria’s building constructionpractice – it remains a welcome shot in the arm for the establishment. At least its story has changed from abandonment to resumption of attention and work in progress.

The National Library of Nigeria (NLN) is statutorily established to serve as the country’s primary repository of information, responsible for collecting and preserving all materials published in Nigeria and by Nigerians globally. 

Established in 1964 and located in Abuja, the NLN is also expected to operate in tandem with global best practices by offering digital resources through its national virtual library, provide services like ISBN verification and research assistance and work to preserve Nigeria’s cultural and intellectual heritage for future generations. However, to what extent it has delivered on such mandate is a matter for another day. Presently, what the library is noted for is the issuance of the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) and the International Standard Book Number (ISBN). All the other services designated for it statutorily are largely in abeyance.

Put in perspective, the circumstances that spurred Senator Remi Tinubu to act as she did qualify for deeper look as a grave national malaise seems to be indicated, and which is a leadership aversion to granting reading culture and scholarship, the deserved pride of place.

If the national headquarters of the country’s central library can suffer such neglect, it does not take the attribute of clairvoyance to appreciate the depressed state of other libraries under its control. According to English writer, Francis Bacon, “Reading maketh a man and writing an exact man.”

With libraries serving as the crucibles for moulding refined minds in their capacities as custodians of knowledge, the plight of the National Library headquarters constitutes a national shame.

Libraries are not just locations for assembling books and other records of interest. As custodians of knowledge and purveyor of progress, libraries remains beacons of consciousness to rectitude and sublime values, which coalesce to drive the progress of any nation and people.

Meanwhile, the role of knowledge in driving progress among living organisms is often overlooked. Yet among all life forms where survival is for the fittest, hierarchy is dictated by the endowment of knowledge with which to survive. Just as well, throughout human history, the more knowledgeable a people are, the better their chances of progressing beyond whatever limitations are associated with their environment.

Even with Nigeria’s libraries across the country operating at different capacities and most of them not in the best of shapes, they still provide the nourishment that fuels the growth of knowledge in different circumstances. This is just as they also still remain the fountains of knowledge for present and succeeding generations of Nigerians to drink from and be liberated from ignorance and darkness to become instruments that will take the country to higher levels according to their time.

In the final analysis, while the intervention of Oluremi Tinubu remains commendable, the gesture should not be allowed to die on the altar of more politically correct interest of the country’s leadership community. She can do more by advocating further affirmative action through the establishment to change the narrative of the typical Nigerian library.

Meanwhile, happy birthday anniversary to you, Nigeria’s independence baby and now First Lady of the country.