Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has criticized the federal government for failing to complete the National Library in Abuja.
Obi, in a statement, said it was ironic that First Lady Oluremi Tinubu asked well-wishers to donate towards the project on her 65th birthday instead of giving her cakes or buying newspaper adverts.
He said while the gesture appeared noble, it exposed the government’s misplaced priorities.
His words: “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.
“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.
“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 said it was shameful that Nigeria must beg for charity to build what he described as “the very temple of knowledge”.
He further stated: “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 said Tinubu was correct that education remains the most enduring legacy a nation can give its people.
“Yet to know this truth and still prioritise vanity is both shocking and tragic.
“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 added.