President Bola Tinubu signed a new law Tuesday ending the use of “Arise O Compatriot” as Nigeria’s national anthem, and restoring the former anthem that was suspended more than 40 years ago.
The National Anthem Act passed by the National Assembly reverts to the old anthem “Nigeria we hail thee”, which was first sung at independence in 1960.
“This morning, Mr President signed into an Act of Parliament, the newly passed National Anthem 2024,” Senate president Godswill Akpabio announced at a joint session of the National Assembly.
Mr Tinubu later addressed the session after the new anthem was performed by a military band.
For the president, it was a wish fulfilled.
Swift Change
The anthem change came swiftly and, for many Nigerians, arrived as a hard-to-rationalize policy at a time of heightened economic hardship.
“Nigeria is facing serious economic and security challenges but it’s prioritizing changing its national anthem,” former Kaduna senator Shehu Sani wrote on X, formerly Twitter Tuesday.
“We have bacterial infection, we opted for Prada fragrance instead of Penicillin.”
That sentiment was widely expressed offline and online, with many criticizing the need and timing of the new piece.
Former education minister Oby Ezekwesili vowed she would not accept the new anthem.
“Let it be known to all and sundry that I, Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili shall whenever asked to sing the Nigerian National Anthem sing: Arise, O compatriots, Nigeria’s call obey…,” she wrote on X.
“This is my own National Anthem and let it be known that no one can suppress my right to dissent an obnoxious ‘law’ that is repugnant to all that is of good conscience in Nigeria.”
A Dream Fulfilled
“Nigeria, We Hail Thee” was written by Lillian Jean Williams, a British expatriate who lived in Nigeria; and was composed by Frances Berda. It was adopted as Nigeria’s first national anthem on October 1, 1960.
The second national anthem, “Arise, O Compatriots,” was introduced in 1978. It was created by five Nigerians: P. O. Aderibigbe, John A. Ilechukwu, Dr. Sota Omoigui, Eme Etim Akpan and B.A. Ogunnaike.
Mr Tinubu had long wished the old anthem would be restored. He once told an interviewer he did not know why the anthem was changed.
“In fact, if I have my way, I will bring back our old national anthem. That described us much much better,” the president said in an old video clip shared online Tuesday.
“I don’t know why we changed it. It’s about service, it’s about diversity, it’s about commitment and to value our nation-building.” It was not immediately clear when the video was made.
The change riled many who view the anthem change as a stark example of the disconnect between the government and the governed. That disconnection is particularly evident in the process of the bill’s passage.
While Nigerians grappled with the highest inflation rate in 28 years and the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades, lawmakers in the Senate and the House of Representatives expedited the legislative process. The bill for the anthem reversal was quickly read for the third time and sent to the president for his signature without consultations with citizens and civil society.
Olúṣeun Onígbindé, founder of Budgit, a civic tech organization that promotes government transparency and citizen engagement, said the entire discussion did not last more than three hours and less than half of federal lawmakers attended the session.
“Without any form of consultation or leaning into popular demand, that’s how a national anthem that stood for over 50 years was expunged. Nigerians, stop playing games with your leadership choices,” Mr Onígbindé said.
The ruling elites cheered on, however. House speaker Tajudeen Abbas praised Mr Tinubu for reintroducing the old anthem “we grew up with.”
“For the young ones, by the time you sit down and read it line by line and word by word, you will see why it is very important for Nigeria to revisit its former National Anthem,” he said Tuesday as Mr Tinubu responded with a grin and an applause.
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