MOBILE telecommunications firm, MTN
Nigeria may have commenced
subterranean moves to evacuate the
abandoned Universities Connect Library at
the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka,
Lagos.
The state-of-the-art digital library, donated
to the school in 2005, has been placed
under lock and key in the last five years and
much to the dissatisfaction of the donor
organisation.
In-house sources at the Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) office of the
telecommunication outfit informed The
Guardian that the evacuation processes
would begin soon, even as it was gathered
that troubled Lagos State University (LASU),
Ojo Campus may be the new beneficiary.
The abandoned facility helped the 54-year-
old institution to link up with other citadels
of learning for reference books and research
materials. It put at the disposal of the
school, intellectual resources of over 5,500
libraries, organisations, publishers of
academic journals, professional reference
and scholarly works.
“This library will support the assembly and
creative use of up-to-date information at the
click of a mouse,” Executive Director, MTN
Foundation, Amina Oyagbola, had said at
the commissioning.
At the opening, the library guaranteed two-
year subscription to journals, books and so
on, as well as a two-year maintenance
contract to ensure the environment was
adequately maintained.
It was gathered that the facility and its 125
networked computers, three laser jet
printers, a server, and VSAT-based Internet
connectivity, 15 air-conditioners, and
alternative power generation all ran like a
well oiled machine for the two years.
But without plans for onward maintenance,
the library struggled for relevance among
researchers. Today and 10 years after it was
commissioned, many undergraduates are
not aware that such facility ever existed or
what it represents sitting next to their Main
Library.
A doctorate student of the institution (an
undergraduate in 2005), told The Guardian
that the problem started gradually around
2008. He recalled ease of access to
academic materials suddenly became
difficult, with complaints over
malfunctioning system, power outage,
network issues and faulty server.
“Internet enabled phones were still a luxury
then, so the digital library was more of a
respite for researcher to get things done
and quickly too. But with technical
problems, one cannot but lose interest.
Later, it was the case of staffers that would
not come to work. All of these dragged on
till it eventually shutdown,” he said on
condition of anonymity.
When The Guardian visited recently, it was
all covered in thick dust, overgrown weed
and firmly locked in chains and padlocks.
Citing the library at Akintunde Ojo Main
Library annex was also a challenge for the
sensitive infrastructure. The building, which
sits besides the school’s main library,
overlooking the Lagos lagoon, is one of
those early structures affected by the poor
maintenance culture.
Since the building ceased to be the Main
Dining Hall for Akokaites back in the 1970s –
when Structural Adjustment Programme
(SAP) scraped school feeding programme
for Nigerian students – the Akintunde Ojo
building became a junkyard, and makeshift
library for all-night readers during
examination periods.
Sources within the school alleged that
“yearly royalty” also became a subject of
feisty battle between the school
management, the donor and a top ranking
personality in the university system that
had approved the project at inception.
MTN Corporate Social Executive, Akinwale
Goodluck, recently at the Lagos State
Support Our School Initiative Breakfast
Meeting, said the world-class facility, a pride
of his organisation, had been locked up for
years, because the school management
could just not keep to agreements in a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
signed in 2004.
Goodluck, who gave credit to the Lagos
State government and the ministry of
education on effective partnership till date,
said a state-owned tertiary institution would
be the new beneficiary of the digital library
when it was retrieved from UNILAG.
“We are happy to transfer this facility to
Lagos State,” Goodluck said.
Authorities of UNILAG, however maintained
that they had given the telecommunication
outfit their blessing to remove the facility,
after sections of the second agreement
were breached by the mobile outfit.
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