Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has blasted the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu’s birthday message, calling it a symbol of Nigeria’s warped priorities.
Obi, while joining millions of Nigerians to wish Mrs. Tinubu good health and happiness on her new age, said he was shocked by her request that well-wishers donate money to complete the abandoned National Library in Abuja rather than spend on cakes or adverts.
“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.
“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. On the surface, it is noble and selfless. But beneath it lies an indictment of our nation,” Obi said.
The former Anambra governor lamented that while he once urged people to redirect advert money into meaningful causes, that was meant to complement government, not replace it.
“That is why 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 said.
Obi described the abandoned library project as a national disgrace and proof of leadership failure.
“What kind of country must beg for charity to build the very temple of knowledge? 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.”
He stressed that Nigeria’s future depends on knowledge, not extravagance.
“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.”
