Labour Party leader and former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has slammed the Federal Government for approving a ₦712.3 billion airport renovation project, calling it “reckless, tone-deaf, and shameful” in a nation gripped by hunger and extreme poverty.
Obi’s strong condemnation came just after the United Nations issued a dire warning: over 34 million Nigerians are at risk of hunger, including 15 million children. The crisis is being worsened by runaway food inflation and crippling unemployment.
“This is not how nations are built. While our people go to bed hungry, you’re spending over ₦700 billion to renovate airports? This is not governance—it’s betrayal,” Obi declared in a statement on Tuesday.
He reminded Nigerians that in 2013, the country already borrowed $500 million to upgrade five major airports, questioning the wisdom and timing of this new mega-renovation—especially when children are dying of malnutrition and families can no longer afford basic food.
“We need to invest in the people first—food, education, healthcare. What use is an airport when the people are too poor, too sick, or too hungry to fly?”
Obi acknowledged the value of infrastructure but insisted that human survival must come first. He accused the FG of economic insensitivity and dangerous misplacement of priorities, warning that continued neglect of food insecurity could spark widespread unrest.
He also criticised the timing of the contract’s announcement—just hours after the UN’s global hunger alert.
“This is a government living in an alternate reality. The poor are suffering. The streets are filled with despair. And what’s the response? New terminals and ribbon-cutting ceremonies.”
Calling for an urgent reset of national focus, Obi urged the FG to channel resources into life-saving sectors rather than prestige projects.
“A nation is not defined by airports or skyscrapers but by how it treats its most vulnerable. The hungry can’t wait. The sick can’t wait. The poor can’t wait.”
He ended with a challenge to Nigerian leaders: “Choose empathy over ego. Choose action over applause. Every kobo must count. If we truly want a New Nigeria, we must spend for the people, not for prestige.”