President Bola Tinubu has signed the National Anthem Bill 2024, restoring the old national anthem, “Nigeria, we hail thee.”
Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced this on Wednesday during a joint session of the National Assembly commemorating the Silver Jubilee of Nigeria’s 4th Republic.
The event also marked the first anniversary of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Tinubu, attending the joint session later, endorsed “Nigeria, we hail thee” as the “new national anthem.”
Akpabio explained that the session was primarily held to introduce the updated national anthem, noting that the President would not deliver a speech as he needed to depart to inaugurate the Abuja metro line.
Backstory
The Senate and the House of Representatives had earlier approved the bill to change the national anthem from “Arise, O Compatriots” to “Nigeria, We Hail Thee” during separate sessions.
With the President’s endorsement of the bill to reinstate the old national anthem, the joint session discarded the anthem that had been used since 1978, adopting the original “Nigeria, we hail thee” as the official anthem.
The anthem “Nigeria, we hail thee,” originally composed for Nigeria’s independence on October 1, 1960, has now supplanted “Arise, O Compatriots.”
Lillian Jean Williams, a British expatriate who lived in Nigeria during its independence, penned the lyrics for “Nigeria, we hail thee,” while Frances Berda composed the music.
The anthem played a significant role in shaping Nigeria’s national identity and unity during the 1960s and late 1970s.
The bill sponsored by the Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, (Ekiti Central), enjoyed overwhelming support from the lawmakers.
In supporting the bill, the lawmakers argued that it would promote a better symbol for unity, peace, and prosperity, compared to the current one.
The lawmakers noted that the current national anthem was a product of the military junta, decreed by the military, and should, therefore, give way to the independence anthem, which captures national values, ethics, and norms.
Here is the anthem below:
Nigeria we hail thee,
Our own dear native land,
Though tribe and tongue may differ,
In brotherhood, we stand,
Nigerians all, and proud to serve
Our sovereign Motherland.
Our flag shall be a symbol
That truth and justice reign,
In peace or battle honour’d,
And this we count as gain,
To hand on to our children
A banner without stain.
O God of all creation,
Grant this our one request,
Help us to build a nation
Where no man is oppressed,
And so with peace and plenty
Nigeria may be blessed.
