"WE ARE FINISHED" — Peter Obi Criticises Remi Tinubu’s Birthday Donations Request.

 

Peter Obi.

Former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi has voiced criticism over First Lady Oluremi Tinubu’s appeal for birthday well-wishers to contribute funds towards completing the National Library in Abuja. He described the request as a reflection of misplaced priorities within Nigeria’s leadership.

Writing on his X account on Sunday, Obi acknowledged that the First Lady’s appeal appeared “noble and selfless on the surface” but argued that it exposed a deeper failure on the part of the government to carry out its basic duties.

“I join millions of Nigerians in wishing Her Excellency, Mrs Oluremi Tinubu, a happy birthday. May God Almighty, who has been with her all these years, grant her many more healthy, fruitful, and happy years,” Obi wrote.

“However, I was struck by irony reading her request: that instead of cakes or newspaper adverts, well-wishers should donate toward completing the National Library in Abuja.”

Obi asserted that it is unacceptable for a country to depend on charitable donations to construct “the very temple of knowledge” while its leadership continues to indulge in excessive spending.

“It is shocking that, in our present circumstances, while billions are easily found for jets, yachts, unused mansions, endless trips abroad, and other frivolities, the nation must rely on birthday donations to complete its own national library,” he stated.

The former governor of Anambra further noted that such spending patterns expose a broader disregard for the educational sector.

He commented, “What kind of leaders waste trillions on luxury and vanity while the National Library — our intellectual furnace — remains abandoned in the capital? Serious nations treat libraries as sacred, but here we reduce them to afterthoughts, begging bowls, or birthday tokens.”

Obi concluded his statement by emphasising that Nigeria’s development rests not on extravagance but on educational investment.

“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,” he declared.