By Ghazali Ibrahim
The 2023 Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, on Friday, donated N15 million to the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Ituku-Ozalla campus, to support efforts to resolve its accreditation challenges.
Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, made the donation during an unscheduled visit to the school, days after a letter from the faculty’s re-accreditation fundraising committee sought urgent assistance of N40 million for laboratory upgrades and improved induction capacity.
The donation, he said, was initially delayed out of respect for the national mourning following the death of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Out of respect for the national mourning… I refrained from making any public statements during that period. Now that the mourning has officially ended, I felt it was important to act without delay,” Obi wrote on his verified X page on July 18, 2025.
He added that his intervention reflects a deeper concern over what he called “a tragedy of misplaced priorities” in Nigeria’s leadership.
“We cannot, in good conscience, continue to allow our young people to suffer due to leadership failure,” Obi said.
Obi said he verified the authenticity of the request by contacting UNN authorities and personally assessing the situation before making the donation.
He also pledged to rally support from other “good-spirited individuals” to help the faculty raise the remaining funds.
“I continue to question the kind of country we are building, where our leaders and public servants spend millions on luxury cars and ignore critical areas of development,” he said.
Obi’s donation was directed to the University of Nigeria Dental Students Association and aims to aid students affected by the accreditation crisis.
