An aide to President Goodluck Jonathan and renowned environmental activist, Mr Douglas Oronto is set to commission a world class library in Ekiti State. The library, billed to be the first and largest public library in Ekiti State is located at Irele-Ekiti, a small ancestral community in Ekiti North local government area of the State. Mr Douglas is the Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Strategy and Policy. He is said to be building the library from his income without any partisan politically motivated financial input. His choice of Irele-Ekiti may have been influenced by some of his blood-bound relationship with some political activists from the area which he worked with during the dark era of military rule, when Mr Douglas was a priced target for elimination. The library which will be named after the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo will be commissioned before the end of this year. The Obafemi Awolowo Library, Irele-Ekiti is expected to host over 5 million E-books plus hard copies of publications on several fields of human endeavour. Sources say this Library will be one of the biggest public libraries in the South West. The foundation was laid late last year. It will take less than one year to build and complete the library. It sits on six plots of land buried within a ring of evergreen forest. It will employ not less than 15 people mostly from the indigenous communities in the area. The source said that the library will primarily serve both high schools and institutions of-higher learning in Ekiti, the entire South West and the Middle-Belt area. It will also be available for the general public. “At full completion, we expect the library to serve the entire humanity beginning from Africa to Asia and the Americas. Mr. Douglas has embarked on the collection of rare historic books on culture, science, politics and economy. He wants to make the library his own contribution to the development of human knowledge in Ekiti and the entire South West region,” the source said. Mr Tayo Adegbuyi, an official of the Ogun State Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, who is an indigene of Irele-Ekiti said the community remains ever grateful to Mr. Oronto Douglas for the rare privilege given to host such a fortress of learning. Mr Gbenro Eleoramo, a Chief in the ancient community said the library will uplift the community from the backwater status into global fame. “Mr Douglas has left an indelible footprint in the annals of the history of our community. We shall remain ever grateful to him,” Eleoramo said. Mr Douglas penchant for learning is not new. His community, Okoroba hosts the biggest private library in Nigeria which he built. He has also built a magnificent public library in Abeokuta, where he had his secondary education. Mr Douglas is perhaps Nigeria’s most influential environmentalist in the post Ken Saro-Wiwa era, seen as a profound authority on environmental issues and an inestimable icon in the circle of foreign diplomats before his forage into the murky waters of Nigerian politics in 1999 when he was picked as the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information, Policy and Strategy. Mr Douglas is seen as one of President Jonathan’s most thoughtful but rarely seen advisers.