Although the Federal Government has gleefully endorsed the old national anthem as the new one in Nigeria, a member of the House of Representatives, Opeyemi Bamidele, has sought to puncture it.
He expressed disgust at it (Nigeria we hail thee) as, according to him, it was composed by the colonial masters.
He said on Wednesday: “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.”
Adopting ‘Nigeria we hail thee’ on Wednesday, President Bola Tinubu led a joint sitting of the National Assembly as they sang it.
Senate President, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, had announced before the joint sitting that a return to the old national anthem would begin from today, following Tinubu’s assent to the bill to that effect.
Also, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Tajudeen Abbas, who presided over the sitting, 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.
