The year 2017 has been described as the golden Year for the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library.
According to the Chief Promoter, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the first major achievement of the year was the Library’s formal commissioning on March 4.
At the grand opening ceremonies were leaders from across Africa, members of the British royalty and the diplomatic corps, state governors, Nigerian royal fathers, cultural apparatchiks, captains of industry, top government functionaries and members of the parliament.
That made the Library now accessible to the public, “bringing out the beauty and the magnificence of twelve years of planning, fund-raising, consultation, building and construction and installations”.
While “works of improvement, enhancement, innovation and additions continue on subsidiaries that have earlier been opened such as the Adire, the Village, the Church, Bamboo Park, the Rounda, the Marque, the Amphitheatre, the Workshop, the Green Legacy Resort and the Arrival Pavilion”, he observed.
With commencement of operations and the relocation of administrative staff to the main Library, four of the Chalets, which hitherto served as staff offices are currently being used as:
- Tour Booking Office
- Chief Promoter’s Reception,
- Staff Club
- Security Base
- Other innovations have been completed, including the cleaning of the lake which has started functioning for boat rides (see story on boat cruise).
The Coffee Shop at the Arrival Pavilion is now operational and the whole of the Arrival Pavilion has been fully integrated with the base building as one unit joined by the Bailey bridge.
One of the newest developments is the Hydropower Generation Demonstration Project and water reticulation expected to serve the OOPL’s 32,196,198 square-metre complex.