- President Bola Tinubu has come under heavy criticism over his decision to change the national anthem
- The President on Wednesday, May 29, restored the old national anthem and discarded the current one
- Reacting, PDP chieftain Reno Omokri described Tinubu’s decision as a big mistake and noted that the newly re-adopted anthem, which begins “Nigeria, We Hail Thee,” was written by Lillian Jean Williams in 1959 and composed by Frances Berda
- Omokri urged Tinubu to revert to the old ‘Arise, O Compatriots’ that was written and composed by Nigerians
Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.
Former presidential aide Reno Omokri has condemned the signing into law of the old National Anthem.
Legit.ng reported that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the National Anthem bill seeking to return the old National Anthem ‘Nigeria, We hail thee’ into law on Wednesday, May 29.
Photo credit: Reno Omokri, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu
Source: Facebook
Reacting to the development, Omokri, in a post shared on his X page on Wednesday, faulted Tinubu’s action and noted that “his action looks like a step backwards.”
Omokri noted that ‘Arise, O Compatriots’ National Anthem was written by a collective young Nigerians, including John A. Ilechukwu, Eme Etim Akpan, B. A. Ogunnaike, Sota Omoigui and P. O. Aderibigbe in 1978, and the old National Anthem, ‘Nigeria, We Hail Thee’, was written by an English woman, Lillian Jean Williams.
The chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) queried the rationality behind Tinubu’s action. He however advised President Tinubu to revert back to ‘Arise, O Compatriots’.
Omokri tweeted:
“Reverting To The Old National Anthem Was a Big Mistake
“Does it not sound preposterous that a foreigner should write our National Anthem? Are we that shallow and uninspired that we cannot come up with our own indigenous anthem? As my Yoruba brethren will say, ‘O wrong now!’
“We ought to have even changed that name to something indigenous, such as the Republic of Wazobia, as Ghana did in 1957 when she changed from Gold Coast to Ghana at Independence in 1957.
“To me, it looks like a step backwards to discard the ‘Arise, O Compatriots’ National Anthem written by a collective of young Nigerians.
“In my humble opinion, President Tinubu ought not to have assented to that bill. Instead, he should have written a strongly worded letter to communicate to the National Assembly the implications on our sovereignty and national psyche to revert to an anthem written by a foreigner, which would make us a free nation that willingly chose to return to the yoke of imperialism.
“Is it too late for the President to do what he ought to have done? No. He is our Head of State and has a duty to promote indigenous ideas over imperialistic ones.”
Tinubu sings old national anthem, video goes viral
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu led a joint sitting of the National Assembly on Wednesday, May 29, as Nigeria returned to the old National Anthem.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio had announced before the joint sitting that a return to the old national anthem would begin from today, following President Tinubu’s assent to the bill to that effect.
Interestingly, President Bola Tinubu joined the lawmakers and sang the old national anthem word for word. This is after he had discarded the latest one “Arise, O Compatriots.”
Source: Legit.ng
