Nigerian Government has approved the takeover of the financing of the National Library project by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, (TETFUND).
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Sonny Echono, made this known in Abuja while addressing a delegation from the Nigerian Library Association (NLA) led by its President, Professor Innocent Ekoja, who paid a working visit to the Ministry.
Echono said the move became necessary as over N50 billion was needed to complete the project.
According to Echono, “the move was aimed at repositioning library services in the education sector for effective delivery, recalling that work on the National Library had been stalled for years due to inadequate funding and efforts to get the private sector to complete the project had not yielded any results,” he said.
Responding, President of the Association, Professor Innocent Ekoja, commended the Federal government, saying that the completion of the National library would bring honour and pride to all Nigerian librarians.
Ekoja said that it would also provide the much needed reservoir for Nigerian researchers, students and the generality of the reading public.
Highlights of the one-day working visit included the investiture of the Service Award on the Permanent Secretary, the highest honour ever bestowed on a non-librarian by the Association.
Ekoja revealed that the investiture on the Permanent Secretary was the seventh by the association in the last 40 years.
Lateefah Ibrahim
