Senate Begins Public Hearing on Change of Nigeria's National Anthem, Demands Wider Consultations

The Senate has on Monday, commenced a public hearing on an Act to provide for the National Anthem of Nigeria and related matters, to the effect that the country would revert to adoption of it's old national anthem 'Nigeria We Hail Thee' that was in use between October 1st 1960 and 1978 when it was replaced by the anthem currently in use in the country under the administration of former president Olusegun Obasanjo.

The leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele, who represented the President of the Senate at the hearing, said the second stanza of the existing national anthem shall be the country's national prayer.

However, he said if deemed necessary, there will be wider consultations on the matter. 

Similarly, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, said the amendment should not come only by legislative fiat, but should be subjected to a wider consultation. He stated that the reversal is not out of place but it should involve a wider process to ensure it is a true reflection of the generality of the wishes of all Nigerians.

Meanwhile, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, harped on one of the lines from the previous anthem, which addresses the issue of oppression, while corroborating with the Director General of National Orientation Agency that the change of the nation’s anthem is long overdue. He further recalled that he had mooted the idea 10 years ago at the 2014 CONFAB through a motion and it was debated by the 490 delegates but ultimately discarded.

According to him, the present Nigerian flag of green white green is simply too vague and not inspiring enough, compared to that of US and South Africa. Ozekhome also recalled that he suggested that the name ‘Nigeria’ should be changed’ because it appeared to be a burden.

He asserted that similar changes have been done in other countries such as The Netherlands, Pakistan, France, Russia, Turkey, Zambia, Zimbabwe and 12 others.

He therefore maintained that a national referendum is key to holistically solve the issues arising from the national anthem, noting that a slight amendment to the constitution will not solve Nigeria’s problems. 

It would be recalled that last week, a bill seeking to make provision for Nigeria to revert to its old national anthem scaled through second reading at the Senate.

Open Television Naija had earlier reported how the Senate held an executive/closed session last Thursday to deliberate changing the national anthem.