Senate President Godswill Akpabio has expressed that the re-introduction of Nigeria’s old national anthem earlier this year could have mitigated issues of banditry and insecurity in the country.
Akpabio believes that retaining the anthem, “Nigeria, we hail thee,” would have instilled patriotism and fostered a sense of brotherhood among citizens, thus reducing the inclination towards violence.
During his visit to the Nigeria Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies in Abuja on Tuesday, Akpabio addressed criticisms labeling the re-introduced anthem as a relic of colonialism. He clarified that the anthem was the result of a comprehensive process led by a Nigerian panel in 1959, which incorporated global inputs.
“The impactful bill signed by the National Assembly is the reversion to our old national anthem,” Akpabio stated.
“A lot of people are not aware that a panel set up in 1959, comprised of Nigerians, received input from all over the world. So when people say we’re bringing in a colonial anthem, they need to look into the history of ‘Nigeria, we hail thee.'”
Akpabio suggested that the values embedded in the old anthem could have played a significant role in preventing current security challenges. “If we had kept that anthem, we probably would not have banditry today in Nigeria because if you take your neighbor as your brother, you will not want to kill him,” he said.
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate swiftly passed a bill to reintroduce the old national anthem, which was abolished in 1978. President Bola Tinubu signed the bill into law in May, officially reinstating “Nigeria, we hail thee” as the national anthem.
