The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has given Senator Seriake Dickson, National Leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), 48 hours to state whether the party officially supports the use of Nigeria’s former national anthem.
Keyamo made the demand in a post on his X account on Saturday, describing the national anthem as a symbol of the country’s history, values and sovereignty.
He argued that singing an anthem different from the one legally recognised could create grounds for secession, adding that a political group whose leader endorsed such an action could be regarded as a secessionist movement.
“A national anthem is one of a country’s national symbols. It represents a country’s history, values and sovereignty. It is meant to unite citizens,” he wrote.
The minister further stated: “When a group of people decide to defy it and sing something different from what others are singing as prescribed by law, that group is preparing grounds to break away from the country. It is one of the ingredients of secession.
“And once the leader of such a group endorses the action, it means the group is then officially a secessionist movement.”
Keyamo subsequently challenged Dickson, whom he described as a former classmate and friend, to clarify the party’s position within 48 hours.
“I am therefore officially calling on the original ‘Countryman’, my classmate, my friend and a man of considerable courage from our school days, Senator Seriake Dickson, the official leader of the NDC, to within 48 hours speak up as to whether the NDC officially endorses a proscribed anthem as its own national symbol. The world is waiting,” he said.
The demand followed an incident at an NDC town hall meeting in the Oregun area of Lagos State on Thursday, where some attendees sang the former national anthem, “Arise, O Compatriots”, instead of the current anthem, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee”.
The party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, was among those seen singing the former anthem and making the NDC’s two-finger gesture.
However, Funso Doherty, the party’s Lagos State governorship candidate, later described the singing as a spontaneous response by attendees in an emotional atmosphere.
Doherty said the current national anthem was also performed at the meeting, emphasising that Nigeria had only one officially recognised national anthem.
The controversy comes after the Federal Government reinstated “Nigeria, We Hail Thee” as the national anthem in May 2024, replacing “Arise, O Compatriots”, which had been in use since 1978.
The National Assembly passed the National Anthem Bill, which President Bola Tinubu signed into law on May 29, 2024. The restored anthem was first adopted when Nigeria gained independence in 1960 before being replaced 18 years later.
The decision to restore the anthem attracted mixed reactions, with supporters describing it as a return to Nigeria’s historical identity, while critics questioned its relevance amid economic hardship and security challenges.
In a separate interview with Eagle 102.5 FM on Friday, Keyamo also criticised Obi and other NDC members over the incident, accusing them of disrespecting national symbols, the law and the office of the President.
“For me, it is left for the Nigerian people to decide whether these human beings you have now seen disregarding national symbols, disrespecting the law and disrespecting the office of the President that they so crave are responsible enough to aspire to that office,” he said.
He further described those who supported the party despite the incident as irresponsible, arguing that the controversy could affect its appeal among moderate voters.
However, Keyamo acknowledged during the interview that he was unaware of any specific legal penalty for singing the former national anthem.
“There’s no penalty that is prescribed by law. No penalty. The law just says this is our new national anthem and then you should think we should all abide by it. It becomes a crime when there’s a penalty attached to it,” he said.