Peter Obi was the 2023 Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP)
In a scathing social media post that combined both well-wishing and blistering critique, former Anambra State Governor and Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has decried the state of Nigeria’s national priorities, following a birthday request made by First Lady, Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu.
“I join millions of Nigerians in wishing Her Excellency, Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, a happy birthday,” Obi began in his post on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday. “May God Almighty, who has been with her all these years, grant her many more healthy, fruitful, and happy years.”
But beneath the pleasantries lay a stark message about the decay in governance and national values.
Obi expressed deep concern over Mrs. Tinubu’s appeal that, instead of birthday cakes or newspaper adverts, well-wishers should donate towards completing the long-abandoned National Library in Abuja.
“On the surface, it is noble and selfless,” Obi said. “But beneath it lies an indictment of our nation.”
Drawing on his own experience as governor, Obi recalled encouraging supporters to forgo congratulatory adverts and instead fund classrooms and educational tools. But he stressed that such gestures must never replace the fundamental duties of government.
“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 wrote.
Obi, a long-time advocate for education reform and fiscal discipline, lamented that Nigeria—a country with vast resources—still treats knowledge and intellectual infrastructure as afterthoughts.
“What kind of country must beg for charity to build the very temple of knowledge?” he asked. “What kind of leaders waste trillions on luxury and vanity, while the National Library – our intellectual furnace – remains abandoned in the capital?”
Referencing Mrs. Tinubu’s own acknowledgment that “education is the most enduring legacy a nation can give its people,” Obi challenged the contradiction between words and action.
“Yet to know this truth and still prioritise vanity is both shocking and tragic,” he wrote.
In a conclusion that has since sparked heated online debate, Obi warned that Nigeria’s future hinges not on elite extravagance but on educational 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.”
