“True, we are finished!” Peter Obi reacts to First Lady’s birthday request

Former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi has reacted sharply to First Lady Oluremi Tinubu’s call for donations toward the completion of the National Library in Abuja, describing it as confirmation of the oft-repeated lament among Nigerians that “Nigeria is finished.”

The First Lady, who turned 61 on Sunday, had requested that well-wishers contribute to the library project instead of buying gifts or placing adverts in newspapers to celebrate her birthday.

Obi, while wishing the First Lady a happy birthday on social media, said her appeal highlighted a deeper problem: the government’s neglect of education. He criticized the reliance on charitable donations for the completion of a key national institution, questioning the priorities of Nigerian leaders.

“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? Serious nations treat libraries as sacred; but here we reduce them to afterthoughts, begging bowls, or birthday tokens,” Obi wrote.

He added that the nation’s progress would not come from wealth or luxury but from investing in education and knowledge. Reflecting on his time as Governor of Anambra State, Obi said even when citizens contributed to projects, the government still bore the responsibility for providing essential infrastructure—a duty that should not be substituted by donations.

Obi concluded, “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.”