Nigerians slam the federal government’s decision to reinstate the old national anthem. On Wednesday, May 29, 2024, President Bola Tinubu, signed the National Anthem Bill 2024, seeking to bring back the old anthem, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee,” used from 1960 to 1978 into law, shifting from the “Arise, O Compatriots.”
Information derived by businessworld from X, formerly known as Twitter displayed Nigerian’s displeasure to the decision saying “Reinstating the old national anthem is a misplaced priority”. Also, the former Minister of Education, Mrs Obiageli Ezekwesili, has sworn to never revert to the old national anthem.
According to her, no one can suppress her right to dissent from what she described as an “obnoxious law” repugnant to all who are of good conscience in Nigeria.
Another tweep identified as Lawrence Ohineme, with the handle #LOhineme, tweeted “It appears that this government wants to distract Nigerians from focusing on the hardship they are battling with by forcing us to learn an old national anthem. This is a misplacement of priorities.”
Not stopping there, comments from Facebook show people’s anger and frustration settling for backwardness. On Facebook, Adegboyega Adeyemi wrote, “This is nothing but a backward integration. When will Nigeria be free from colonial mentality? Here, we are sacrificing a homegrown national anthem for a colonially imposed national anthem.”
Nelson Oriarebun commented, “This particular move by this government simply tells you that they don’t have regard for the opinions of Nigerians on any issue, because based on popular opinion, changing the national anthem is not our priority for now, and it’s not the reason why Nigeria is not working.”
Despite the large amount of slams on the government, Simeon Simeon took to his Facebook page stating contrary opinion. He wrote, “A welcomed development. I have always said if I were president, I would change the Arise o compatriots thing. Thank you, Mr. President for a clear vision.”
Since the speculation about reinstating the old national anthem, Nigerians have taken it to various social media platforms questioning the usefulness and purpose of the House of Representatives to revert to the old national anthem.
