By George Ozalla
Peter Obi, former Labour Party presidential candidate, has strongly criticized President Bola Tinubu’s decision to offer scholarships to students from St. Lucia and other Caribbean countries while millions of Nigerian children remain out of school. Obi described the move as an “act of betrayal” against Nigerian children, emphasizing that Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children globally, with approximately 20 million children lacking access to education.
According to Obi, Nigeria’s education system is in ruins, with public schools in the Federal Capital Territory shut down for months, and teachers not paid their salaries. He questioned the logic behind Tinubu’s decision, saying, “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 Nigerian children are largely out of school and teachers not yet paid for months?”
Obi highlighted the stark contrast between Nigeria’s development statistics and those of Saint Lucia. While Nigeria has a literacy rate of under 60% and a life expectancy of 54 years, Saint Lucia boasts a literacy rate of over 90% and a life expectancy of more than 72 years. Nigeria is ranked 161 out of 193 countries on the Human Development Index (HDI), placing it in the “Low Category,” whereas Saint Lucia falls under the “High Category”.¹ ²
The scholarship program, announced by President Tinubu during his trip to St. Lucia, aims to provide educational opportunities for students from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) to study in Nigerian universities. However, Obi’s criticism underscores the perceived disconnect between Nigeria’s educational needs and the president’s priorities.
