‘We’re finished’: Obi faults Remi Tinubu’s birthday donation appeal for National Library

Former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi has spoken about the request made by First Lady Oluremi Tinubu for the completion of the National Library in Abuja.

Mrs Tinubu made the appeal in commemoration of her 65th birthday on Sunday, September 21, 2025.

The First Lady said that instead of presenting her cakes or newspaper adverts, well-wishers should donate toward completing the National Library in Abuja.

Speaking via a statement shared on X on Sunday night, Obi, while describing the request as “noble and selfless”, berated the state of many infrastructures in Nigeria.

Obi stressed that the appeal made by the First Lady showed a stark indictment of the state of governance in the country.

The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election congratulated the president’s wife on her birthday and commended her for urging well-wishers to donate toward the completion of the long-abandoned National Library.

Obi wrote: “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.”

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Recalling his tenure as governor of Anambra State, 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.

He added: “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.

“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.

“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.

“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.”

The Star