The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has criticised the Nigerian government’s handling of national priorities following a birthday appeal made by Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu.

In a statement shared on his X handle, Obi congratulated Mrs. Tinubu on her birthday and commended her for urging well-wishers to donate toward the completion of the long-abandoned National Library in Abuja, rather than spend on celebratory cakes or newspaper adverts.

However, the former Anambra State governor noted that the appeal, though well-intentioned, was a stark indictment of the state of governance in Nigeria.

“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?”

The National Library, whose construction began over a decade ago, remains unfinished despite multiple budgetary allocations.

Obi highlighted the irony of a nation awash with wealth, frequently allocated for private jets, official residences, and international trips, turning to private donations to fund a critical national institution.

Recalling his own tenure as governor, Obi stated that while he encouraged well-wishers to channel advert funds toward school infrastructure, it was always meant to complement, not replace, the government’s responsibility.

“Such gestures were never meant to replace the government’s duty but to complement it,” he said. “The state still bore the responsibility of providing those essentials.”

Mrs. Tinubu had called on friends and supporters to redirect funds for her birthday toward the National Library project, a call that has received mixed reactions.

While some hail the move as a mark of humility and public spirit, others, like Obi, see it as symptomatic of a deeper failure of governance.

“Serious nations treat libraries as sacred,” Obi said.

“But here we reduce them to afterthoughts, begging bowls, or birthday tokens.”

Obi warned that Nigeria’s hope does not lie in luxury or political theatrics, but in education and the empowerment of its people.

“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 not yet responded to Obi’s remarks.