By Ihechukwu Sunday Last Thursday, Nigerians were taken aback when a bill seeking to replace the country’s current National Anthem w...
By Ihechukwu Sunday
Last Thursday, Nigerians were taken aback when a bill
seeking to replace the country’s current National Anthem with the old one was
introduced in both houses of the National Assembly, NASS, the Senate and the
House of Representatives, and it expeditiously scaled the first, second and
third reading on the same day.
On Monday, the Attorney General of the Federation and
Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, became
one of the leading voices against the hurried passage of the bill changing the
National Anthem.
He told the National Assembly that the law regarding the
National Anthem should not be enacted through legislative debate alone.
The AGF stated this at a one-day public hearing on a bill to
revert to Nigeria’s old national anthem.
The AGF’s position is in direct conflict with the Senators’
stance.
Fagbemi warned that the national anthem law should not be
passed without adequate consultation with the people in the form of a
plebiscite or referendum, which he posited was the global standard.
He said: “In some cases, the national anthem emerges from
open national competition among interested citizens. In other instances, the
proposed national anthem is subjected to a plebiscite or referendum before its
eventual adoption or declaration.
“The essence of the foregoing is to secure the buy-in and
confidence of the people and to ensure that the anthem meets their collective
aspirations and suits their contemporary socio-political conditions.
“Against the background of the foregoing, I am of the considered
opinion that the revered issue of the choice of a national item should not come
into being only by legislative fiat or presidential proclamation alone.
“Consequently, it is my considered view that the decision to
change Nigeria’s national anthem, whether by replacing it with the old one or a
new one, should be subjected to a wider process of citizen participation
through zonal public hearings, resolutions of the Federal Executive Council,
Council of State National and State Assemblies.
“The outcome of this process is bound to be a true
reflection of the wishes of the generality or majority of Nigerians.”
Similarly, the Minister of Information and National
Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris Malagi, recommended that the scope be
expanded to include a robust issue on national identity rather than limiting it
to the change of the national anthem.
The Minister, who was represented by the Director-General of
the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr. Lanre Issa-Onilu, noted that some
lines in the old national anthem do not make complete sense.
“The issue of the national anthem is just a sub-sect. What
we should be looking at is the National Identity Act.
“The challenge we have today is that we do not value
national identity, of which the national anthem is one aspect. It is not about
singing in schools; it is about learning it and imbibing it,” he said.
Also cautioning the National Assembly on the expeditious
passage of the bill, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, called for wider consultations
for Nigerians to accept whatever National Anthem is proposed and buy into it.
According to him, the National Assembly should widen the
scope of participation in the process of coming up with such an Act for general
acceptability.
He, however, supported the move to replace the current
“Arise, O Compatriots” National Anthem with “Nigeria, We Hail Thee,” which the
country started with in October 1960.
He said such a move was long overdue since the current
National Anthem, adopted in 1978, does not have the required gravitas and is
not inspirational enough to ignite the passion and zeal for nationhood among
Nigerians.
According to him, Nigeria will not be the first country in
the world to replace the current national anthem with the old one, as over 20
countries like Russia, Austria, Chile, France, Saudi Arabia, China, Brazil,
Iran, Iraq, etc., have done so at different times in the past.
One of those who have cried blue murder about the
development is the former National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand
Alliance, APGA, Maxi Okwu.
He agreed that the lawmakers have abandoned important issues
of economic hardship and insecurity which have driven millions of Nigerians
into abject squalor to pursue an issue that has no bearing on the improvement
of hunger and insecurity in the land.
He described the moves as a kind of idleness and lack of
focus on the part of the lawmakers. “It is such an irrelevant issue that they
have time for such diversionary activity. I am shocked that the Bill passed the
first, second and third reading on the same day.”
“Look at the level of emergency in the country. Look at the
level of hunger, anger and frustration in the land and the lawmakers are
talking about the national anthem. We have lost focus completely,” he told
DAILY POST.
For Adebowale Wifred, an entrepreneur, the lawmakers are
just acting like jesters.
“They have just decided to chase shadows instead of the
substance. But, why are we like this,” he queried.
He is also of the opinion that Nigeria is being buffeted
from all angles by various problems ranging from economic to religious and
security issues, a development that has brought untold hardship to millions of
Nigeria, lamenting the lawmakers have chosen to abandon all those and push for
the return of the old national anthem.
“Will that put food on the table of any Nigeria? Will it
stop the banditry, the kidnapping, the wanton spilling of blood across the
country? Why can’t we be serious in this country for once?
“Nigeria is at the verge of collapse and all the lawmakers
could think of is how to return the old national anthem. People are dying of
hunger; bandits are riding roughshod on Nigerians; Fulani herdsmen have
prevented farmers from going to farm and Nigerians are facing acute food crisis
but our lawmakers do not want to do anything about that.
“It is how to return the old national anthem that they are
concerned about. We are finished in this country,” he said in an interview with
DAILY POST.
Also reacting to the development, a social worker, Mrs
Vivian James, threw her weight behind the lawmakers.
She believes that the wordings in the old national anthem
are more of uniting Nigerians than the current one.
“I think the lawmakers are right. The old national anthem
makes more meaning in terms of uniting Nigerians, particularly the verse,
‘though tribe and tongue may differ; in brotherhood we stand.
“You know that Nigeria is made up of several ethnic tribes
with many languages. As such, the country needs an anthem that promotes unity
in every ramification and I think the old national anthem is just apt.
“The current national anthem does not promote unity in
diversity and that is what the country needs at this material point in time.
So, I support the move to revert to the old anthem,” she stated.
For Marcellus Onah, a legal practitioner, the lawmakers are
not living up to the expectations of Nigerians.
He believes that there are so many issues weighing down
heavily on Nigerians, which they are expected to offer lasting solutions
through legislation, but lamented that they have completely abandoned those
important issues that would impact positively on the lives of the people.
“What are we even talking about? How can anybody be talking
about the national anthem as the problem in Nigeria today? Nigerians are
suffering; people cannot no longer feed because inflation has gone to such a
level that our Naira is valueless.
“There is insecurity everywhere ranging from kidnapping,
banditry to Boko Haram insurgency and farmers/herders clashes.
“Corruption is almost crippling the economy and bringing the
country to its knees, yet the lawmakers have chosen to waste their energy on
mere national anthems.
“I just wonder how reverting to the old national anthem
would solve the problem of corruption which is almost becoming a norm in the
system. How will that solve the exchange rate issue in the land which has
affected the price of virtually all imported items in Nigeria, even the locally
produced goods?
“How will that solve the problem of hunger in the land? How
will it arrest the issue of insecurity that has made life so miserable for
almost everybody in Nigeria today?
“I think our lawmakers should be made to know that Nigerians
are suffering and they are required to churn out legislation that would bring
succor to the people at this point in time,” he noted.
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