The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETfund) has approved N15 billion as first tranche for the construction of the 15-year-old abandoned national library in Abuja.
The edifice is one of the many multi-billion naira federal projects abandoned for years. It is located at the Central Business District of Abuja, near the Millenium Towers, another abandoned project.
The contract for the construction of the National Library was awarded to Reynolds Construction Company in 2006 during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo at the cost of N8.9bn with an initial completion period of four years.
The firm was said to have requested an upward review of the contract because of the decision of the Federal Government to incorporate new technology into the building.
The administration of former President Umaru Yar’Adua then approved an upward review to the tune of N18bn.
The spokesperson of the Federal Ministry of Education, Ben Goong, in an interview said the building would require N50bn to be completed.
But TETFund, in a post on its website, said it had set aside N15bn for the construction to take off.
The Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono, said, “On our own part, we have set aside the first tranche of about N15bn already in our coffers to be deployed as soon as the approval from the revised cost is granted by the Federal Executive Council.”
He emphasised the importance of the library, saying, “For us in the tertiary education, the library is where learning takes place, including research, teaching materials and resources that students access to improve themselves, are all deposited for record purposes. Library is usually the centre of any academic institution.”
