By Muhammad Mamman
Former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi has criticised First Lady Oluremi Tinubu’s request for birthday well-wishers to donate towards completing the National Library in Abuja, calling it a damning reflection of Nigeria’s misplaced priorities.
In a post on X, Obi acknowledged the gesture as “noble and selfless on the surface” but argued it revealed government’s failure to provide essential public infrastructure.
He condemned the irony of relying on charity to complete “the very temple of knowledge” while billions are spent on jets, yachts, luxury mansions and foreign trips.
“What kind of leaders waste trillions on vanity, while the National Library—our intellectual furnace—remains abandoned? Serious nations treat libraries as sacred, not as birthday tokens,” Obi said.
He added that true progress lies in prioritising education over frivolities: “If Nigeria will rise, it will be on the strength of minds formed in classrooms and nourished in libraries. Until then, the lament remains true—we are finished.”
