First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has announced that her 65th birthday fundraiser has so far realized ₦20.7 billion towards the long-delayed completion of the National Library.
The First Lady disclosed this during a luncheon with members of the press at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, stating that the special birthday account — Oluremi@65 Education Fund — will remain open until December 2025 to allow more Nigerians contribute to the project.
Quoting Lebanese philosopher and poet Gebran Khalil Gebran’s 1925 essay The New Frontier, Senator Tinubu said nation-building requires collective responsibility.
“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,” she noted, adding that the initiative was not politically motivated but inspired by her personal experiences as a teacher and the transformative role libraries played in her upbringing.
She recalled her track record of philanthropy through previous milestone birthdays, including raising ₦50 million for the National Sickle Cell Foundation at 45, and ₦200 million for the New Era Foundation and other charities at 50.
“As at 2pm today, the fund had realized ₦20.4 billion and was still counting. This is not just a project, but a national treasure that will serve generations to come,” she said.
The First Lady clarified that the signatories to the fundraising account are the Minister of Education and the Chief Librarian of the Federation, stressing that her role was simply to help drive support for the project.
She also acknowledged contributions from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima and his wife, former President Muhammadu Buhari, several former first ladies, the leadership of the National Assembly, governors and their spouses, security chiefs, as well as prominent business leaders including Aliko Dangote, Abdulsamad Rabiu, Arthur Eze, Tony Elumelu, and Jim Ovia.
The National Library project, first initiated in 1981 and plagued by decades of stalled funding, has seen its budget escalate from ₦8.2 billion at inception to ₦23 billion as of 2023. Senator Tinubu said the current administration is determined to “take the bull by the horn” and deliver the project within two years.
