Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in 2023, Peter Obi, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s decision to offer scholarships to students from Saint Lucia and other Caribbean countries, while millions of Nigerian children remain out of school.

His view on the initiative is a sharp contrast with that of Shehu Sani, who represented Kaduna Central in the Senate. Sani said Tinubu’s decision to announce scholarships for students from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) should not be regarded as a waste of national resources.

Obi, in a statement, yesterday, described the move as an “act of betrayal” against Nigerian children, since 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 (FCT) shut down for months, and the teachers unpaid.

He questioned the logic behind Tinubu’s decision: “What sense does it make that a President of a country with such terrible and dire statistics would travel to a country with better indices 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?”

Meanwhile, in a post shared on his X handle yesterday, Sani hinted that the scholarship scheme was part of a broader cooperation framework between Nigeria and the OECS.

The senator added that the initiative aims to deepen people-to-people ties and expand collaboration in education, trade, and development.

“When Nigeria offers scholarships for St Lucia students to study in Nigeria, I read comments from people who think we should not give because we have our problems. They need to be enlightened that all the countries that give aid, grants and scholarships to Nigerians also have their problems, but they choose to give. You don’t help others only when you don’t have a problem; you help others because it’s human or brotherly to help. Cuba has been under sanctions for 60 years and is still giving our students scholarships,” he said.

Presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, revealed that a joint implementation committee comprising representatives from Nigeria and OECS member states will oversee the initiative. Their task will be to finalise modalities and ensure that beneficiaries commence studies in Nigeria next academic year.