- Mixed reactions have continued to trail the move by the Nigerian president to restore the old national anthem
- Some Nigerians who reacted differently to the development queried the Senate’s motive over the bill President Bola Tinubu signed into law on Wednesday
- Mrs Obiageli Ezekwesili, former education minister, insisted that the old national anthem is not her national anthem
Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.
On Wednesday, May 29, the former minister of education, Mrs Obiageli Ezekwesili, has insisted that she will not revert to the old national anthem, which President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed as the country’s new anthem.
Photo credit: @obyezeks, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu
Source: Twitter
Ezekwesili made this disclosure in a post shared on her X handle on Wednesday.
Buttressing her point, the former minister noted that 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.
Ezekwesili tweeted:
“Let it be known to all and sundry that I, Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili shall whenever asked to sing the Nigerian National Anthem sing:
1. Arise, O compatriots, Nigeria’s call obey
To serve our fatherland
With love and strength and faith
The labour of our heroes past
Shall never be in vain
To serve with heart and might
One nation bound in freedom, peace and unity.
2. Oh God of creation, direct our noble cause
Guide our leader’s right
Help our youth the truth to know
In love and honesty to grow
And living just and true
Great lofty heights attain
To build a nation where peace and justice reign.
“This is my own National Anthem and let it be known that no one can suppress my right to dissent an obnoxious “law” that is repugnant to all that is of good conscience in Nigeria.”
“Whatever else is #NotMyNationalAnthem.”
Nigerians react as Senate passes bill to restore old national anthem
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the Nigerian Senate passed the National Anthem Bill 2024 on Tuesday, May 28. The bill would revert to the old national anthem.
The Senate passed the legislation to swap the national anthem from “Arise, O Compatriots” to “Nigeria, We Hail Thee.” The old anthem, composed when Nigeria gained independence on October 1, 1960, will replace the current anthem.
The bill seeks to revive the anthem that was dropped in 1978 during Olusegun Obasanjo’s military administration.
@DaCityBoss tweeted: “Who raised this motion in the first place?”
Source: Legit.ng
