Why I donated N200 million for education in one week – Peter Obi

The 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, says he donated over N200 million within a week for education in a bid to provide a future for the younger generation.

Mr Obi made this known during the 70th Anniversary of Queen’s School Enugu organised by Queen’s School Old Girls Association on Saturday.

“On Monday, I was in Onitsha, where they started a new university. From there, I went to Borromeo College of Nursing.

“On Tuesday, I was at Anyigba in Kogi State to attend to students’ needs, and on Thursdays, I was at Almajiri School in Kaduna to attend to their needs also.

“I have donated over N200 million within the week on education,” he said.

While emphasising the importance of investing in education, Mr Obi said that no country would succeed without education.

He said that he was investing in the future of the young ones to discourage them from crime.

Mr Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, said that a country’s future depends on its investment in health and education.

He decried the state of the Queen’s School Enugu which he said has produced many great people but had lost its glory due to negligence.

“Those of you who studied in this school will be wondering how we got here. A school that has been celebrated has turned into nothing to be celebrated.

“I am urging you to pull your resources together toward rebuilding this school.

“My appeal to old girls of this school and other Nigerians is: Let’s go back and fix our schools than build new ones.”

He pledged to partner with the association to give a facelift to the school.

Rebuilding the school

Earlier in her remarks, the National President of the Queens School Old Girls Association, Ifeanyi Egbunike, said that many things had gone wrong with the school.

She said that the school lacked new structures.

“I graduated from this school in 1974, and we are celebrating Queen School because it has come a long way. I am celebrating 50 years of being part of the school.

“The school has groomed and added value to many. We chose Obi because he was a man with vision, he is result-oriented and a lover of education,” Mrs Egbunike said.

Queen’s School Enugu was established on 4 October 1954 by the defunct Government of Eastern Nigeria.

The Chairperson of the Enugu Chapter of the association, Maureen Atuonwu, said that the school’s alumni came from all over the world to celebrate its 70th anniversary, adding that the association was working toward uplifting the school.

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“We have come together to discuss ways of rebuilding this school, as government alone cannot do it.

“We are partnering with Enugu State Government to see how to take this school to greater heights.

“This school has produced a lot of professionals who excelled in their various fields of endeavour, including Prof. Ngozi Okwonjo-Iweala,” Mrs Atuonwu said.

(NAN)