By Abiola Olawale
The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi has faulted First Lady Oluremi Tinubu’s recent birthday appeal for donations to complete a National Library project in Abuja
This is as Obi described the move as a symbol of the nation’s “misplaced priorities.”
This criticism arose after Tinubu marked her 64th birthday on September 21, 2025, with a public message urging well-wishers to forgo traditional gifts such as cakes or newspaper advertisements in favor of contributions toward the long-stalled National Library project.
However, in a post on his X 6account on Sunday, Obi said while the First Lady’s appeal was “noble and selfless on the surface,” it exposed the failure of government to fulfill its responsibilities.
He continued: “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.
“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.
“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.
“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.”
