Members of the National Assembly might have been pleasantly shocked by the level of opprobrium that has greeted their newly passed law returning the old national anthem. Yes, that move at this time is a wrong foot forward, a costly gamble.
It is, indeed, ill-timed. Quite incautious and inauspicious. With all the melange of problems begging for priority attention during the week of the first anniversary of the Tinubu administration whose harsh economic policies have brought more pains than gains to Nigerians, the lawmakers preoccupied themselves with an inconsequential law to change the national anthem. And they gloated so much about it!
The mood of the people has been highly tetchy. They are already frazzled about the negative outlook of an economy that has left them poorer, hungrier and angrier. And their yelps of pain have been resonating across the land. Of course, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,had warned at the onset of his administration that he would take tough and hard measures to tackle the economic challenges he inherited.
Nevertheless, the least the people expect of their elected representatives in these circumstances is empathy expressed through legislations and/or motions that would thaw their anger and not unserious bills that do not address their needs. But it appears the lawmakers are sadly far too removed from reality by the magisterial air of opulence and ostentation around them to discern the veneer of gloom hanging in the atmosphere.
Titled, ‘Bill for an Act to Provide for the National Anthem of Nigeria and for Matters Related Thereto,’ which originated from lower chamber of the National Assembly, the bill sought to replace the current national anthem, ‘Arise O Compatriots,’ with the old one adopted at independence on October1,1960, ‘Nigeria we hail thee.’ The old anthem was changed in 1978 by the Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo military regime.
The sponsor of the bill, Julius Ihonvebere, who is the House Leader, argued while leading the debate on the principles of the bill, that the old anthem surpasses the current one because it “encompasses, contains and exudes the kind of energy that I believe is good for Nigeria.”
Ihonvebere added: “The bill seeks to enjoin us to look at our anthem as a national symbol and sign of authority, one that will pull us together, give us hope and courage and a sense of duty to the nation.
Ihonvebere added: “The bill seeks to enjoin us to look at our anthem as a national symbol and sign of authority, one that will pull us together, give us hope and courage and a sense of duty to the nation.
“It seeks to say that as a people fronting a renewed hope of moving forward, tackling the rot and decay, dislocation and distortion of the past, we should go back to our old national anthem, which gives us that energy, that sense of commitment, dedication and a desire to move Nigeria forward.”
The House Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda, however, opposed the bill, wondering what an anthem with ‘colonial’ imprint would do for Nigeria and Nigerians. He said: “If we ask ourselves, what is the essence of a national anthem? I will say it represents the tradition, history and beliefs of a nation and its people.
“It evokes feelings of patriotism among citizens and reminds them of their nation’s glory, beauty and rich heritage. The question is, what does this old national anthem remind us of? What is the history behind the old national anthem?
“Why did we go for a new national anthem? It was because we wanted to loose ourselves from the colonial ties and the country set up a committee to look at a new national anthem,” Chinda recalled, adding that the new anthem, ‘Arise O Compatriots,’ was the handiwork of Nigerians, unlike ‘Nigeria we hail thee’… Today, we are taking ourselves back to the old national anthem. Is this bill important at this particular time in our national life? What value will it add to us as a nation?”
The upper chamber, the Senate, held a rather hasty public hearing on the bill last Monday. The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, who represented the Senate President at the hearing, recalled the impact of the old anthem. “Upon rendition,” he noted, “it(old anthem) inspired deep patriotism among Nigerians. Those who lived through the era recognized its crucial role in our nation’s history, evoking nostalgia and fond memories of our early years.”
After the public hearing at the upper chamber, the bill was passed the following day, last Tuesday. The lower chamber had earlier passed it penultimate Thursday. The bill is certainly one of the fastest laws ever churned out from the federal legislative chimney. It was passed in both chambers almost with the speed of lightning. The lawmakers introduced and passed the bill in less than a week, which was quite unusual because normal bills take weeks or even months before they are passed into law.
But the elders say the squirrel dancing on the road has its drummer hidden in the bush. President Tinubu appears to be the unseen hand behind the whole thing. It came to light that ever before he became president, he had nursed the wish to bring back the old national anthem if he had his way.
In a video of an interview the then Asiwaju Tinubu had two years ago during the nation’s 62nd independence anniversary, released by an online medium, he had expressed the wish. “If I have my way,” he had said, “I will bring back our old national anthem. That describes us much much better. I don’t know why we changed it. It’s about service; it’s about diversity; its about commitment, to hallow our nation building.”
Besides, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, unmasked the masquerade last Wednesday at the joint session of the two chambers of the National Assembly, where the president assented to the controversial bill. Akpabio had described the return of the old anthem as one of the significant things achieved during Tinubu’s first year in office.
The Senate President, addressing Tinubu, said: “Of all the significant things you have done, I think one of the most important is to take us back to our genealogy, the genealogy of our birth, that though we may belong to different tribes; though we may have different tongues, in brotherhood we must stand. Whether on the field of battle or politics, we must hail Nigeria.”
The old national anthem was sung immediately Tinubu arrived the National Assembly for the joint session. This, Akpabio explained, was because “the best place to start this revolution (Nigerians uniting in brotherhood) is the National Assembly where we have the representatives of the people.”
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abass, came more directly, as he thanked President Tinubu “for bringing back the national anthem we grew up with.” He added: “For the young ones, by the time you sit down and read it(old anthem) line by line and word by word, you will see why it is very important for Nigeria to revisit its former national anthem. If we can follow it to its logical conclusion, Nigeria will be a much better nation.”
Celebrating the return of the old national anthem this way is rather befuddling and hypocritical of the National Assembly leadership. It is a farcical jamboree, an insensitive roller coaster that offends the sensibilities of Nigerians, at a time these leaders ought to embrace sobriety and penitence for the cloak of misery foisted on the larger population by their administration’s harsh economic measures.
Little wonder that the passage of the bill and the hasty manner it came about riled the people in no small way. Very few bills of the federal legislature have received this level of public outrage and hoopla. Perhaps, the anthem reversal would not have elicited the level of acidic knocks it did but for the timing and the economic hardships ravaging the land.
Many Nigerians who knocked the political leadership said there were more pressing problems such as insecurity, rising inflation and forex crisis that ought to have got priority attention from the lawmakers than waste time on a national anthem law.
Former Education Minister, Oby Ezekwesili, waxed defiant in her criticism, vowing to keep singing the jettisoned anthem, ‘Arise O Comptriots.’ She described the law signed by the president to return the old national anthem as “obnoxious” and “repugnant to all who are of good conscience in Nigeria.”
She added, in a post on her X handle: “With all the horrible indicators on the state of governance? So, it is a national anthem that is their priority? I frankly thought it was a joke and gave it no attention. What an egregious case of ‘Majority in the Minor’ this is!”
Senator Shehu Sani, in a post last Wednesday on his X handle, chided the legislators: “Nigeria is facing serious economic and security challenges but it is prioritizing changing its national anthem. We have a bacterial infection, so we opted for Prada fragrance instead of penicillin!”
A public affairs analyst, Kingsley Amadi, believed that “the old national anthem was insulting and damaging to Nigeria as a people,” adding that “it was derogatory and made a mockery of our citizenship and origin.”
He said: “It described us as a ‘native land,’ a term used to describe a people without civilization. It used ‘tribes’ and ‘tongues’ to ascribe our relationship with one another. Tribesmen are used to connote primitivism; it is barbaric and not modern.
“As much as our tongues differ, they don’t define us. We are a land filled with milk and honey and the world must know about our riches and not problems… While other countries are opening up their citizenship, we are celebrating our native ancestry… Just a sad debasing narrative for us a nation and the quality of of leadership we have had to endure for so long now.”
The lawmakers, however, have a big ally in a legal buff, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), who said the return of the old national anthem is long overdue, describing it as “a positive development.” He said bringing back the old anthem was among the things he proposed at the 2014 constitutional conference.
The popular lawyer said in a viral video: “I, as a humble and patriotic pan-Nigerian, I have always looked at these issues from the Nigerian perspective— how we can make our country better than it is now. Which was why, Mr President, sir, as far back as Wednesday July, 2, 2014– 10 years ago— at the plenary session of the national conference, I moved the motion for the change of our national anthem back to the old one of 1960 on our independence.
“That motion was hotly debated by the 492 delegates at the national confab drawn from every spectrum of the Nigerian society and it was carried. And indeed, nostalgically, the whole plenary session stood up and sang the old national anthem. So, bringing it back is well overdue. It has better lyrics in context and content— like the Senate President said. It is better than the other one.”
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Ozekhome counsels President Tinubu to completely rebrand the nation by changing Nigeria’s name and the national flag as well. He believes that the green white green is too bland and not inspirational compared to those of US and South Africa.
A public affairs analyst, Frank Tietie, also backs the return of the old national anthem, saying: “Anthems are ideological recitations that help the people to be more focused. It was a sad development for the military to have changed the (old) anthem.”
Apart from the wrong timing, returning the old national anthem impugns our sovereignty and national pride. It does us no credit as a sovereign nation to throw away the new anthem, which was the handiwork of our own people in favour of the old one penned and composed by foreigners.
The five Nigerian creative geniuses, who crafted the lyrics of the new anthem were: P.O. Aderibigbe, John A.Ikechukwu, Sola Omoigui, Eme Etim Akpan and B.A. Ogunaike. Their lyrics, which formed the new national anthem, were then composed into a song by Benedict Odiase, who was the Music Director of the Nigerian Police Band and the Mid-West State Police Band.
Conversely, the old national anthem was authored by Lilian James Williams, a Briton, while another Briton, Frances Berder, composed the music.
So, returning the old anthem is akin to re-enacting our painful ties to the slavery of colonialism. It amounts to refreshing the wounds of servitude, an ugly past from which we had been extricated by the change of the anthem in 1978. So, returning it is rather taking us over six decades back!
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