First Lady: I’ve Raised N20.7bn Out Of N100bn Needed To Complete Abandoned  National Library Project In Abuja

Deji Elumoye in Abuja 

Wife of the President, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, on Tuesday disclosed that she has been able to raise N20.7 billion out of the N200 billion required to complete the abandoned 11-storey National Library building in Abuja.

Speaking over lunch at a news briefing at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja, Mrs Tinubu, in the company of 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 realized N20.7 billion.

The First Lady added that as at 2pm on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, the fund had realized N20.7 billion and was still counting, noting that the account will remain open till December 2025 before it is shut down.

She also explained that the birthday account, Oluremi@65 Education Fund, will remain open till December 2025 to receive more donations from willing Nigerians towards the completion of the project.

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 are the Minister of Education and the Chief Librarian of the Federation, insisting 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 welldoing, 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 is politically motivated, saying it was based on her love for education.

She pointed out that as a teacher, as well as 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.

Her words: “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 delays, with the budget escalating from N8.2 billion in 1981 to N23 billion as of 2023. 

However,  President Bola Tinubu’s administration is ready to “take the bull by the horn,” as the First Lady put it, to ensure that construction is completed within two years.

She acknowledged various contributors, including President Tinubu, Vice-President Kashim Shettima and his wife, late former President Muhammadu Buhari, several former first ladies, 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 and Jim Ovia, among other well-wishers.

The National Library headquarters project in Abuja, first mooted in 1981 has 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 stood at about 44 per cent with estimates ranging from N49.6 billion to more than N120 billion required to finish the 12-storey complex. 

The site, 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 delays and rising costs. 

Originally awarded in 2006 at a cost of about N8.59 billion with an expected completion period of within three to four years, the project remains incomplete after nearly two decades.

Successive administrations have pledged to deliver the project, and in 2025 the Federal Government directed the Tertiary Education Trust Fund to take over funding and resume construction.