In a move that has sparked widespread condemnation, President Bola Tinubu signed a bill on Wednesday reinstating Nigeria’s colonial-era national anthem, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee,” replacing the 1978 anthem “Arise O’ Compatriots.”
The decision has drawn criticism amid ongoing economic hardships exacerbated by Tinubu’s policies, including the removal of fuel subsidies and the floating of the naira. Many Nigerians view the change as a misplaced priority.
Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, rejected the new anthem, labeling the law as “obnoxious” and promising to continue singing the old national anthem at public events. In a post on her X (formerly Twitter) handle, Ezekwesili stated, “With all the horrible indicators on the state of governance? So, it is a new National Anthem that is their priority? I frankly thought it was a joke and gave it no attention. What an egregious case of ‘Majoring in the Minor’ this is!”
Senator Shehu Sani also criticized the move, commenting on X, “Nigeria is facing serious economic and security challenges but it’s prioritizing changing its national anthem. We have a bacterial infection, so we opted for Prada fragrance instead of Penicillin.”
The Senate passed the bill on Tuesday, a week after it cleared the House of Representatives. During the signing ceremony at a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives, Tinubu called for collective actions to build the nation. Senate President Godswill Akpabio justified the decision, describing it as a significant achievement of Tinubu’s first year in office. Akpabio 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.”
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abass, thanked Tinubu for restoring the anthem, saying, “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.”
Deputy Spokesman of the House, Philip Agbese, echoed this sentiment, saying the old anthem evokes a sense of nostalgia and patriotism and represents a return to Nigeria’s “glory days.”
The decision has been met with widespread backlash on social media. Users expressed their dissatisfaction, with some pointing out that the change does nothing to address pressing economic and security issues. On X, @TheFavoredWoman wrote, “Changing the Nigerian national anthem written by a Nigerian, to the song written by colonisers is a stupid decision and it’s shameful that nobody in the National Assembly thought to stand against it.”
On Facebook, Ibitola Olaniyi criticized the move, saying, “All over the world people and countries are moving forward but APC and Tinubu government are drawn backwards, it’s a thing of shame.”
The decision to revert to the old national anthem continues to stir debate, highlighting a significant divide between the government’s actions and public sentiment.
