Murtala Muhammad Library Complex: Please, Don’t Give Away Our History

The rumour that the Murtala Muhammad Library Complex in Kano is being considered for handover to Northwest University has left me deeply concerned.

It is not merely the possible transfer of a building that worries me. It is the possibility of losing an important part of Kano’s institutional history—a history in which many people, including myself, made sacrifices to bring the Complex to life.

This development takes me back to an article I wrote for the New Nigerian Newspaper in late 1999, titled “Murtala Muhammad Library Complex, A Millennium Gift.”

In that article, I traced the history of the Complex back to 1975, when Mallam Haruna Ningi was Director. The original vision was ambitious. The Complex was planned to have four major components: a library, an Information Centre, an Open-Air Theatre and an Amphitheatre.
But, like many public projects of that era, the Complex suffered years of neglect, delays and setbacks.Then came 1999.

Engineer Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso became Governor of Kano State and, in his inaugural address, promised to complete the Murtala Muhammad Library Complex and other abandoned projects, including Magwan Water Resources and Investment House, which later became associated with Northwest University.
For those of us who cared deeply about the library, it was a moment of enormous hope.
And we did not merely watch from the sidelines.

Immediately after the new administration took office, an appeal fund was launched. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo graciously accepted to be the Chief Launcher.

The library staff, under the late Executive Director, Alhaji Muhammadu Nalado, also responded. We contributed our own widow’s mite—about N75,000.
It may not appear to be a huge amount today. But at the time, it represented sacrifice. It represented commitment. Above all, it represented our belief that the Murtala Muhammad Library Complex mattered.

In 2000, there was also a Book Aid Week, during which members of the public were encouraged to bring out their old books and donate them to the library.

The response was overwhelming.
People gave because they believed.
They believed that a library was not simply a room filled with books. They believed it was an investment in the intellectual future of Kano.

The original name of the Complex was Kano State Library Board Headquarters. It was subsequently named after the late Head of State, General Murtala Ramat Muhammed.
Of the four components originally planned, it was the library that eventually came to fruition.

The Information Centre, Open-Air Theatre and Amphitheatre remained unfinished, perhaps partly because Kwankwaso did not return after the 2003 elections.

But what was completed did not remain idle.
From 2002 onwards, the Complex became the centre of several important developments in library services in Kano.

The Kano State Library Board eventually occupied the Complex. Its former headquarters was subsequently handed over to the National Library of Nigeria for the establishment of a branch.

The automation of the library also began following the donation of 100 computers by Alhaji Aliko Dangote.
The Mobile Library Service was reintroduced.
Prototype libraries were established in Doguwa and Wudil.

The activities of the Nigerian Library Association were reinvigorated, culminating, among other things, in the recognition of Kwankwaso with the Librarian of the Year Award.

But perhaps the greatest achievement of the Complex is what it has become beyond its traditional role as a library.
It has become a centre of knowledge, learning, dialogue and civic engagement.
It has hosted seminars, workshops and conferences, both national and international.

The United States Embassy chose the Complex as a home for its American Corner.
The University of North Texas supported the strengthening of the library’s collections.

Friends and development partners also contributed to its growth. I remember with particular appreciation Kole Shettima of the MacArthur Foundation and Engineer Y. Z. Yau of the then Computer Literacy Project.

The Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) also intervened through the late Emma Ezeazu.

These were not simply projects.
They were investments in an institution.
They were investments in the people of Kano.

They were investments in knowledge.
And they were investments in the future.
That is why the reported plan to hand over the Complex to another institution is difficult for me to contemplate.
For me, this is personal.

I was there when the project was struggling to survive. I was there when people were mobilised to contribute. I was among those who contributed money. I watched with excitement as the dream began to take shape.
We staked a lot to see this Complex come to life.

So, if the reported plan is indeed being contemplated, I respectfully appeal to His Excellency to reconsider.

There may be compelling reasons behind the proposal that I am not aware of. If so, those reasons should be openly explained to the people whose history and contributions are intertwined with this institution.

But before any irreversible decision is taken, I urge the authorities to pause and consider what the Murtala Muhammad Library Complex represents.
It is not just a property.
It is not just a collection of rooms, books and offices.

It is a monument to an idea.
It is a reminder of the value that successive generations placed on knowledge and public learning.
It is a place built not only with government funds, but also with the goodwill, sacrifices and contributions of ordinary people, public servants, philanthropists, development partners and friends of the library.

Please, Your Excellency, reconsider.
If not for anybody else, do it for me.
We gave something of ourselves to see this place come alive.
We gave our money.
We gave our time.
We gave our energy.
We gave our hope.
And after all these years, it would be painful to watch the institution we fought so hard to build lose the identity and purpose for which so many people sacrificed.

The Murtala Muhammad Library Complex belongs to the history of Kano. Whatever decision is taken about its future should protect, rather than diminish, that history.
If not for any other reason, please, do it for me.
DI Fagge
Secretary to the Board
Kano State Library Board
1998–2013