Remi Tinubu: ‘We’re finished’ – Peter Obi cries out over First Lady’s birthday request

A frontline presidential aspirant, Mr Peter Obi, has reactedto the request made by the wife of the President, Senator Oluremi Tinubu on theoccasion of her birthday celebration. Senator Oluremi Tinubu recently requested that anyonewishing to celebrate her with gifts or newspaper adverts should rather channelsuch gesture to the completion of the National Library in Abuja This request did not go down with Peter Obi, a formerGovernor of Anambra State, who pointed out that Nigeria does not need to waitfor birthday gifts before completing its National Library. Obi, who was the Labour Party, LP, presidential candidate in2023, lamented that millions of dollars are being wasted on trips, jets and yachtswhile a nation like Nigeria will now wait for Remi Tinubu’s well-wishers tomake contributions for her birthday before completing a national asset. In a post titled ‘We Are Finished’ on X, Obi, who wished theFirst Lady more years on earth, slammed the President’s wife for knowing thateducation is key, but still prioritizes vanity, describing the situation asboth shocking and tragic. “We are finished! I join millions of Nigerians in wishingHer Excellency, Mrs Oluremi Tinubu, a happy birthday. May God Almighty, who hasbeen with her all these years, grant her many more healthy, fruitful, and happyyears,” he wrote. “However, I was struck by irony reading her request: thatinstead of cakes or newspaper adverts, well-wishers should donate towardcompleting the National Library in Abuja. On the surface, it is noble andselfless. But beneath it lies an indictment of our nation. “I recall that, as Governor of Anambra State, I too urgedthat money meant for adverts be channelled into meaningful causes— computersfor schools and classroom blocks. Such gestures were never meant to replace thegovernment’s duty but to complement it. The state still bore the responsibilityof providing those essentials. “That is why it is shocking that, in our presentcircumstances, while billions are easily found for jets, yachts, unusedmansions, endless trips abroad, and other frivolities, the nation must rely onbirthday donations to complete its own National Library. “What kind of country must beg for charity to build the verytemple of knowledge? What kind of leaders waste trillions on luxury and vanity,while the National Library – our intellectual furnace – remains abandoned inthe capital? Serious nations treat libraries as sacred; but here we reduce themto afterthoughts, begging bowls, or birthday tokens. “Mrs Tinubu was right: education is the most enduring legacya nation can give its people. Yet to know this truth and still prioritisevanity is both shocking and tragic. “If Nigeria will rise, it will not be on the wings of jetsor the splendour of mansions, but on the strength of minds formed in classroomsand nourished in libraries. Until then, the lament remains true—we arefinished,” he wrote.

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