Nigerian govt threatens sanctions over further delays in national library completion

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, has threatened sanctions against contractors and consultants handling the National Library of Nigeria project over further delays in its completion. Alausa issued the warning on Sunday, in Abuja, at a meeting with contractors, consultants and officials of the National Library of Nigeria. The warning was contained in a statement signed by Ikharo Attah, Special Adviser to the Minister on Media and Communications. Alausa warned that the Federal Government would set fresh delivery timelines for the project and hold the contractors and consultants to the commitments in their agreements. 'We will make you accountable for the timelines we're going to set for ourselves,' he said. He warned that contractors who fail to meet the agreed timelines would be penalised. 'If you're not meeting your guidelines, the timelines, I'm sorry, you'll be penalised,' Alausa said. The minister also disclosed that the project had been divided into two components, physical infrastructure and furnishing, with both expected to proceed at the same time. The National Library project was conceived in 1981, while construction began in 2006 with an initial completion period of 24 months. It was expected to be completed in 2008 but has remained unfinished. 'We'll have a National Library that looks like the National Library of Qatar,' he said.