President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday lead the joint sitting of the National Assembly to sing the old National Anthem.
Senate President, Sen Godawill Akpabio had announced before the joint sitting that a new National Anthem would begin from today, following Tinubu’s assent.
Also, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Tajudeen Abbas who presided along with Akpabio, told members to Google the new anthem so they could recite it correctly.
“Those who are over 59 years old will know the wordings,” he said.
Earlier when it was put to vote, the lawmakers agreed that the band should lead the anthem.
Meanwhile, Rep Bamidele Salam (PDP-Osun) said he was not too keen on the new National Anthem because it was delivered by the colonial master.
He said a blend of the old and the new one would have sufficed rather than discarding the old outrightly.
“Since majority agreed that we should revert, I followed what the majority says, but in my own opinion, we could have done a blend of the two.
” The new national anthem was composed by a foreigner, the old one “Arise o compatriot’ was composed by a Nigerian and some of the lyrics also invoke the spirit of nationalism.
“This is in recognition of the sacrifice of our heroes past
Also speaking, Rep. Akin Rotimi, the Spokesperson of the House of Representatives said that it was a win-win situation as the second stancer of the National Anthem would now be used as the national prayer.
He said the National Anthem is a source of building patriotism, adding that the formal national anthem was not harsh in terms of its lyrics.
