Peter Obi
Peter Obi, 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), has urged the federal government to prioritise education instead of pouring resources into infrastructure projects that yield little measurable development.
The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) recently revealed that Nigeria is facing an education crisis of “great magnitude”, with over 20 million children out of school and many more unable to read or write.
UBEC also highlighted that even children enrolled in school are not acquiring basic literacy skills.
In a statement on X, Obi criticised the government’s spending priorities, noting that trillions of naira are being spent on infrastructure projects that often remain incomplete or fail to contribute significantly to national development.
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“At a time when education should be our most urgent national priority and most critical investment, we as leaders continue to spend trillions on infrastructures, most of which contribute little or nothing to the measurable development index and cannot be completed and renovations that are a misplaced priority, while the foundational sectors like education remain in crisis,” he said.
“Education is the most powerful investment we can make in the future of this nation. We must urgently redirect our focus towards building our national human capital by providing quality and functional schools and investing in access to learning for every Nigerian child.”
He called for an urgent shift in focus towards building national human capital by providing quality, functional schools and ensuring access to learning for every Nigerian child.
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“A nation that neglects its young people has no future. We must urgently redirect our priorities, and invest in quality education. Our children deserve classrooms, not abandoned projects,” Obi said.
“To build a stronger, safer, and more prosperous nation, we must invest in our children, because when we fail them, we have failed our nation.”
He said investing in education is essential to building a stronger, safer, and more prosperous Nigeria, adding that failing the nation’s children is tantamount to failing the country itself.
On August 6, Obi had criticised the federal government over its proposed N712 billion outlay on the renovation of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
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“It is profoundly troubling that at a time when millions of Nigerians are facing the crushing burden of hunger, the Federal Government has chosen to approve a staggering ₦712.3 billion—not to feed its people, not to lift them out of hardship, and not to invest in their well-being, but to renovate an airport,” he said.
“This raises a fundamental and urgent question: Where are our national priorities?”
