{"id":122404,"date":"2025-09-22T17:18:23","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T16:18:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=122404"},"modified":"2025-09-22T17:18:23","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T16:18:23","slug":"national-library-first-ladys-request-marks-leadership-failure-misplaced-priorities-obi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/national-library-first-ladys-request-marks-leadership-failure-misplaced-priorities-obi\/","title":{"rendered":"National Library: First Lady\u2019s request marks leadership failure, misplaced priorities &#8211; Obi"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"m#msg-f:1843956287744523698\" class=\"mail-message expanded\">\n<div id=\"m#msg-f:1843956287744523698-header\" class=\"mail-message-header spacer\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">By Myke Agunwa, Abuja<\/div>\n<div id=\"m#msg-f:1843956287744523698-content\" class=\"mail-message-content collapsible zoom-normal mail-show-images \">\n<div class=\"clear\">\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi has congratulated the First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, on her 65th birthday, but raised concerns over her request that birthday donations be channeled towards the completion of the National Library.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Obi, however, called the request an indictment of Nigeria\u2019s leadership priorities. He lamented that billions were spent on jets, yachts, unused mansions, endless trips abroad, and other frivolities, while the completion of the nation\u2019s National Library was subjected to charity from the first lady\u2019s birthday donations.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">In a post on his X account on Sunday, Obi said while the First Lady\u2019s appeal was \u201cnoble and selfless on the surface,\u201d it exposed the failure of government to fulfill its responsibilities.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI 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 healthier, fruitful, and happy years,\u201d Obi wrote.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cHowever, 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.\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Obi argued that a nation should not rely on charity to build \u201cthe very temple of knowledge\u201d while its leaders spend lavishly on luxuries.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cIt 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.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWe Are Finished!\u201d he stated.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The former Anambra governor added that such priorities highlight a tragic neglect of education.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">He said, \u201cWhat kind of leaders waste trillions on luxury and vanity, while the National Library\u200a\u2014\u200aour intellectual furnace\u200a\u2014\u200aremains abandoned in the capital? Serious nations treat libraries as sacred; but here we reduce them to afterthoughts, begging bowls, or birthday tokens.\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Obi concluded that Nigeria\u2019s progress depends on investing in education rather than vanity projects.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cIf 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\u200a\u2014\u200awe are finished,\u201d he declared.<\/div>\n<div id=\"m_563415827568843272ymail_android_signature\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Myke Agunwa, Abuja Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi has congratulated the First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, on her 65th&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>National Library: First Lady\u2019s request marks leadership failure, misplaced priorities - Obi - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/national-library-first-ladys-request-marks-leadership-failure-misplaced-priorities-obi\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"National Library: First Lady\u2019s request marks leadership failure, misplaced priorities - Obi - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Myke Agunwa, Abuja Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi has congratulated the First Lady, Sen. 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