Peter Obi Criticizes Remi Tinubu’s Birthday Donation Appeal for National Library

Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has faulted the Nigerian government’s handling of national priorities after First Lady Oluremi Tinubu asked friends and supporters to donate toward the completion of the long-abandoned National Library project in Abuja as part of her birthday celebration.

In a statement on his X handle, Obi congratulated Mrs. Tinubu on her birthday and praised her for encouraging well-wishers to fund a public project instead of spending on cakes or newspaper adverts. However, he described the appeal as a troubling reflection of the government’s misplaced priorities.

“What kind of country must beg for charity to build the very temple of knowledge?” Obi asked. “What kind of leaders waste trillions on luxury and vanity, while the National Library, our intellectual furnace, remains abandoned in the capital?”

Construction of the National Library began over a decade ago but remains incomplete despite repeated budgetary allocations. Obi highlighted the irony of a nation spending heavily on official luxuries, from private jets to international trips while turning to birthday donations to fund a critical national institution.

The former Anambra State governor recalled that during his tenure, he encouraged well-wishers to support schools and public infrastructure, but such gestures were always meant to complement government duty, not replace it.

Mrs. Tinubu’s appeal has drawn mixed reactions. Supporters praised it as a mark of humility and commitment to public service, while critics, including Obi, see it as evidence of governance failure.

“Serious nations treat libraries as sacred,” Obi argued. “But here we reduce them to afterthoughts, begging bowls, or birthday tokens.”

He warned that Nigeria’s hope does not lie in luxury or political theatrics but in education and empowerment. “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,” he said. “Until then, the lament remains true — we are finished.”

The Presidency has yet to respond to Obi’s remarks.