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

Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has criticised First Lady Oluremi Tinubu’s call for birthday well-wishers to donate toward completing the National Library in Abuja, describing the move as a stark reflection of Nigeria’s misplaced priorities.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, Obi said the First Lady’s gesture, though appearing “noble and selfless on the surface,” exposed government’s failure to meet its core obligations.

“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 argued that no nation should depend on charity to build “the very temple of knowledge,” especially when leaders continue to spend freely on luxuries.

“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 Anambra governor lamented what he described as the tragic neglect of education.

“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 said.

Obi concluded that Nigeria’s future depends on redirecting resources to education rather than 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,” he declared.