Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives, Rep. Tajudeen Abbas has advised members of the National Assembly (NASS) on what to do if they are not familiar with the newly adopted National Anthem, Nigeria, We Hail Thee.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Speaker Abbas gave the advice on Wednesday during a joint sitting of the NASS, which had President Bola Tinubu in attendance.
The Speaker presided over the sitting along with Senate President Godswill Akpabio as President Tinubu led the joint sitting of the NASS to sing the newly adopted National Anthem.
Abbas told members to Google the new anthem so they could recite it correctly, stressing “those who are over 59 years old will know the wordings”.
Earlier when it was put to vote, the lawmakers agreed that the band should lead the anthem. However President Tinubu led the joint sitting of the National Assembly to sing the old National Anthem.
Senator Akpabio had announced before the joint sitting that a new national anthem would begin from today, following Tinubu’s assent.
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 added that a blend of the old and the new one would have sufficed rather than discarding the old outrightly.
“Since the majority agreed that we should revert, I followed what the majority said, 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,” he said.
Also speaking, Rep. Akin Rotimi, the Spokesperson of the House of Representatives said that it was a win-win situation as the second stanza 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 former national anthem was not apt in terms of its lyrics.