The Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has strongly condemned First Lady Oluremi Tinubu’s request that well-wishers mark her birthday by contributing to the completion of the National Library in Abuja, rather than sending gifts or purchasing newspaper adverts. Obi described the appeal as “ironic, tragic, and an indictment of Nigeria’s priorities.”
In an X post titled “We Are Finished,” Obi said it was deeply troubling that a nation would have to rely on birthday donations to finish such a critical institution.
He recalled that during his time as governor of Anambra State, he encouraged redirecting resources usually spent on newspaper advertisements toward social causes like supplying computers and building classrooms—but insisted such measures were supplementary, not substitutes for government’s core responsibilities.
Obi lamented that, in contrast, “billions are easily found for jets, yachts, unused mansions, endless trips abroad, and other frivolities,” yet Nigeria must now solicit charity to complete “its own National Library.”
Although he acknowledged Mrs Tinubu’s recognition of education’s importance, he said the appeal exposes “a deeper national failure” in government priorities. Obi added: “If Nigeria will rise, it will not be on the wings of jets or the splendour of mansions, but on the strength of minds formed in classrooms and nourished in libraries. Until then, the lament remains true — we are finished.”
