To alleviate the hardships and multidimensional poverty experienced by many Nigerians, political leaders have been urged to change their selfish approach to governance and affairs of state.
It was said that this is the only way to give a new life to millions of citizens, especially young people, who are increasingly hopeless.
The co-author of the Nigerian National Anthem, Sota Omoigui, called in a statement issued on Monday to condemn the recent reversion of the national anthem to the former colonial anthem.
The National Assembly recently passed the National Anthem Bill, 2024, thus restoring the old anthem, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee”.
President Bola Tinubu’s approval of the bill on May 29 prompted a change from the co-author of Omoigui’s “Arise O Compatriots” bill.
But Omoigui described the change as “regressive and a betrayal of our independence.”
He recalled that when he wrote the lyrics of the anthem in 1978, it was his dream for the country to move forward and take its place among the great nations of the world.
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He, however, lamented that all the potential has been hijacked and degraded by a political leadership that constitutes a criminal enterprise, making Nigerians question whether the country was ready for independence at the time it gained it.
“It is a symbol of a political leadership that is clueless and so lost that it crawls on its hands and knees to kiss its colonial master’s ring and adopt its anthem – music and lyrics,” he said.
Omoigui noted that numerous reasons have been given for the quick reversal of the old anthem.
He highlighted the reasons that caught his attention the most: that the colonial anthem embodied more relevant values than the Nigerian anthem and that it would be a source of building patriotism. He described the reasons as indicative of pure hypocrisy.
“First, the anthem of Nigeria: the first two lines of Arise, oh fellow countrymen, Nigeria’s call to obey is a call to action. He calls us to serve our country with love, strength and faith. There is nothing more patriotic than that.
“But our leaders do not have the slightest idea of the meaning of patriotism. They are too greedy and simply unable to live up to the creed of the Nigerian anthem: an anthem with lyrics written by Nigerians and music composed by a Nigerian.
“Our culture, music, films, songs and dances are exported and celebrated by different races all over the world. Radio stations and clubs in cities from Alaska to Argentina broadcast Nigerian Afrobeat. However, in the cradle of that culture, leaders reject their own anthem for a colonial anthem,” he lamented.
Omoigui alleged that the country’s leaders rob the poor because how much they have is never enough. He maintained that they have not served the country with love, strength and faith. And he expressed the opinion that they have failed to create a united nation in freedom, peace and unity.
“They have not been able to be guided by God and cannot teach our young people in love and
honesty to grow, since they do not have love nor do they have honesty. They live corruptly and have not lived fairly and truly,” she added.
Analyzing the colonial anthem, Omoigui said it was the right anthem at the right time in the nation’s history, but maintained that that time has passed.
“Now they want to force Nigerians to sing Nigeria; We greet you. They want us to salute the 53% unemployment rate of our youth and the 34% unemployment rate of our adults.
“They want us to hail the monthly minimum wage of N30,000.00, whose wage earners must work for three months to buy a bag of rice that costs N100,000.00.
“They want us to hail the lack of electricity, roads, running water, dilapidated, unsanitary schools with no roofs or windows and… dilapidated health care systems, including some of our university teaching hospitals, which are death traps, where there are limited medications, few supplies . nor equipment and in many cases not even running water,” he stated.
Omoigui listed other factors, suggesting failure of the government in various aspects of the economy and society and indicating widespread disillusionment among citizens, as reasons why the reinstatement of the colonial anthem is a misnomer that should not be accepted.
He stressed that Nigerians were experiencing neither peace nor abundance, adding that the vast majority have no electricity, roads, running water, healthcare or social services.
Mr. Omoigui declared that citizens were in a worse situation today than at the time of independence; Therefore, changing the anthem and expecting a different result is crazy.
“The Nigeria of our youth that we knew in our 1978 anthem sadly no longer exists. “It has been replaced by a rapacious system of governance that is unsustainable and, if left unchecked, spells doom for the country,” he stated.
Omoigui noted that from the events that have unfolded since independence to date, it was clear that political leaders were incapable of living up to the aspirational creed of the Nigerian or colonial anthem.
He admonished the leaders to change their customs instead of the anthem to move the nation forward.
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He called on Nigerians to rise up and resist leaders who would put the neo-colonial yoke around their necks.
“Fellow Nigerians, you were born free. Your ancestors fought against slavers; its founding fathers resisted the colonial masters. And now it is your turn to resist those who want to put the neocolonial yoke around your neck. Stand up and resist this modern slavery. Stand up and resist singing this lie of a colonial anthem that they want you to sing,” he said.