The ex-governor of Anambra, Peter Obi, has responded to first lady Remi Tinubu’s appeal that gifts for her birthday be redirected towards completing the National Library in Abuja.
The first lady had asked friends and well-wishers to support the project instead of presenting gifts or placing congratulatory adverts in newspapers. She explained that her passion for education motivated her decision to dedicate her birthday to the library’s completion.
In a post on X titled ‘We Are Finished’, Obi criticised the situation, saying it was unacceptable for a nation like Nigeria to rely on birthday donations to finish a critical national institution.
The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 elections lamented that the country spends lavishly on frivolities while neglecting education.
“We are finished! 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,” he 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.
“On the surface, it is noble and selfless. But beneath it lies an indictment of our nation.”**
Obi recalled that during his time as governor of Anambra, he also encouraged citizens to channel money for adverts into social causes — but not as a replacement for government’s duty.
“I recall that, as governor of Anambra state, I too urged that money meant for adverts be channelled into meaningful causes — computers for schools and classroom blocks,” he said.
“Such gestures were never meant to replace the government’s duty but to complement it. The state still bore the responsibility of providing those essentials.”
He described the situation as both “shocking and tragic,” stressing that government readily spends on luxuries while essential institutions such as the National Library are abandoned.
“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,” Obi wrote.
“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?”
While praising the first lady for recognising the importance of education, Obi insisted that prioritising vanity over knowledge shows the depth of Nigeria’s national failure.
“Mrs Tinubu was right: education is the most enduring legacy a nation can give its people. Yet to know this truth and still prioritise vanity is both shocking and tragic,” he added.
“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.”