By Uboho Bassey
A few days have passed, yet I still cannot get over the thrill of my visit to BLERF —the Biographical Legacy and Research Foundation.
This is one man’s dream that seems like a project only the most foresighted and gifted community could conceive, embark upon, and actually bring to life.
BLERF is an achievement —or should I say a vision —that is built on dedication and consistency. It is a story that spans several years and still gathering momentum.
Accompanied by the Clerk of the Senate Committee on Navy, Mr. Smart Eke, we eased into the serene, tree-lined environment where BLERF is ensconced in a sleepy, quiet section of Gwarinpa —claimed to be the largest housing estate in West Africa.
The BLERF is a one-stop resource centre for all information imaginable. Based in Abuja, and celebrated as Nigeria’s first online biographical databank, the foundation holds an astounding collection of about 2.5 million books and over 5 million documents —online and offline.
BLERF is, without question, a storehouse of knowledge on virtually every topic: politics, music, history, travel, nations, governments, entertainment, and beyond.
As one walks into the main hall of the centre, a large backdrop covering one of the walls pulls your eyes to a historic picture. It showcases a life-size pictorial collection of Nigerian leaders, through the years.
Standing proudly during the celebration of the country’s centenary, it represented one rare occasion where they found themselves in one position. I have seen them on television —but seeing them all together like this —from Shehu Shagari to Goodluck Jonathan —is different. It felt like stepping into a room where time was standing at attention.
Inside one massive frame of picture, there’s the military posture… the democratic smile… the iconic beret… the unmistakable glasses. Every section of the portrait and every individual standing there carries its own chapter of Nigeria’s political drama.
That picture represents a lineage of leadership —the puzzling hand of fate, each with a story written in sweat, ambition, with history’s sharp pen. Staring back at onlookers are the decisions, the speeches, the calms, the storms that have rocked Nigeria —in the historic and in the immediate past.
Perhaps, we should call Nyaknno Osso the keeper of stories and legacies, for more detail.
In the hush embrace of this library, one is bound to find the most detailed and preserved cache of information on all subjects.
Each shelf is a portal; each book a doorway; each photo, a story on its own.
Walking through many rooms and buildings felt like different individual buildings stacked high with intellectual materials, I watched Osso’s face light up with memories so vast that I wondered how one person could be a reservoir of so much knowledge.
Osso served as presidential aide to Nigeria’s former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, and was entrusted with the establishment of the first ever presidential library in Africa —the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, located in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Widely travelled, he speaks with such simple grace that makes wisdom a compass that navigates time, explores history, and wields perspective as stories unfurl.
We ended our visit with a copy of his book, Against All Odds. I presented six different copies of some of my books to the library —The Uncommon Housewife; The Unveiled Treasure; The Untameable Spirit; From Trauma to Triumph: Finding Liberty; Times and Seasons, and The Rising Sun.
It was a fitting exchange and contribution on a visit to where knowledge is not only given and received, but also preserved.
As we stepped out of BLERF’s quiet, yet powerful sanctuary, I realized that this is not just a library, but a living monument. BLERF is a guardian of memories, a treasury of Africa’s voices —past, present, and those still rising.
BLERF is more than shelves, photos, and documents. It is the heartbeat of our collective identity. Every display carries a fragment of who we are. Every collection safe-guards what we must never forget —our beginning, our journey, and our becoming.
What I saw was a powerful call to book lovers seeking worlds beyond their own, to students craving clarity, to researchers, educators, policy-makers, and stakeholders, to every curious mind yearning for depth and discovery, to not only visit BLERF, but also contribute to BLERF.
Step into its corridors and let curiosity unravel its treasures. Come and widen your knowledge, stir your imagination, and help preserve the stories that shape us.
At BLERF, knowledge is not just generated and stored, it is protected, honoured, and passed on to generations yet unborn.
Dr Bassey, a published poet and novelist, is based in Uyo
