The former governor of Anambra state and 2023 presidential candidate under the Labour Party, Peter Obi has condemned President Tinubu’s promise to award scholarships in Saint Lucia.

The president had travelled to Saint Lucia last week stating that his trip was necessary to revitalize and strengthen the bond between Nigeria and Saint Lucia.

Over there, he made promises to the country as he bagged the title of “Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Lucia (KCOSL)”; to award scholarships, etc.

“Nigeria will provide scholarships to citizens of OECS member countries and extend the services of the Nigerian Technical Aid Corps (TAC) to OECS countries,” the president had promised.

In a post on his X handle, Peter Obi reacted to the development stating that it is wrong of the president to be awarding scholarships in another man’s land while many children are roaming the street in his country.

According to Obi, even in Abuja where the president is resident, there are many children who are not exposed to education due to lack but the president would not deem it fit awarding scholarships to them.

In his point, Obi maintained that the underdevelopment in Nigeria is due to Leadership failure.

He wrote; “It is heartbreaking that our President, who is the leader of a country with the highest number of out of school children in the world and with the students in the capital of his own nation Abuja presently not attending schools, would travel to St. Lucia and offer scholarships to children there, while his own country’s education system is in ruins, and even currently his nation’s capital, the Federal Capital Territory, the supposed seat of governance, have public schools shut down and closed for months.

“This is not leadership, it is negligence at its peak. It is an act of betrayal against the Nigerian child.

“Nigeria has approximately 20 million children out of school, according to UNICEF, the highest number globally, with a literacy rate of under 60% far below the global average of 87%. Similarly, the life expectancy stands at a mere 54 years, out of the global average measurement of above 70 years, one of the lowest in the world.”

On Human Development Index (HDI), Obi cited that Nigeria is ranked in the “Low Category” at 161 out of 193 countries measured, while St. Lucia, a Caribbean nation, has a literacy rate of over 90% which is above the global average of 87%.

He continued; “In life expectancy of more than 72 years, which is within the global average.

“On HDI which Nigeria is in the Low category, they air in the “High Category”

“So tell me, what sense does it make that a president of a country with such terrible and dire statistics would travel to a country with better indexes of development especially in education and still offer them scholarships funded by Nigerian taxpayers when Nigeria children are largely out of school and the teachers not yet paid for months?

“Mr. President, by offering St Lucia students a scholarship, shows he knows how important education is, while depriving Nigerian students of the same access to education.”

In conclusion, the former governor called on Nigerians to reject these continued normalisations of misplaced priorities and build a better nation for themselves and children.