Former Anambra State Governor and Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has criticised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for offering scholarships to students in St. Lucia while public education in Nigeria faces severe challenges.
In a statement posted on his official X account, Obi described the act as a failure of leadership and a betrayal of Nigerian children. He expressed dismay that the president could extend educational support abroad while millions of Nigerian children remain out of school and public schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been closed for months.
“It is heart-breaking that our president, who leads a country with the highest number of out-of-school children in the world, would travel to St. Lucia and offer scholarships to children there, while his own country’s education system is in ruins,” Obi wrote.
Citing UNICEF data, Obi noted that Nigeria has approximately 20 million out-of-school children, a literacy rate below 60%—compared to the global average of 87%—and one of the world’s lowest life expectancies at 54 years. He also pointed out that Nigeria ranks 161 out of 193 countries on the Human Development Index (HDI), placing it in the “low” development category.
In contrast, St. Lucia, the Caribbean nation visited by President Tinubu, has a literacy rate above 90% and a life expectancy exceeding 72 years—both surpassing global averages.
“So tell me, what sense does it make that a president of a country with such dire statistics would travel to a better-performing country and still offer them scholarships funded by Nigerian taxpayers, while back home, children are out of school and teachers are unpaid?” Obi asked.
He argued that by offering the scholarship, Tinubu indirectly acknowledged the importance of education but failed to prioritise the same for Nigerian students.
Obi concluded by urging Nigerians to reject what he described as the “continued normalisation of misplaced priorities” and to demand better governance focused on addressing critical national challenges.
