Bill Restoring Old Anthem to the Law is Signed into Law by Tinubu
To return to the previous national anthem, “Nigeria, we hail thee,” President Bola Tinubu has given his approval to the National Anthem Bill 2024.
At a joint session of the National Assembly honouring the Silver Jubilee Of Nigeria’s 4th Republic, Godswill Akpabio, president of the Senate, said on Wednesday that the recently enacted national anthem for 2024 had been signed into law by the president earlier in the day. Marking the one-year mark of President Bola Tinubu’s tenure, the event was held simultaneously.
The “latest national anthem” was “Nigeria, we hail thee,” which Tinubu later verified when he entered the joint session.
The president will not be delivering a speech, according to Akpabio, because he must leave to inaugurate the Abuja metro line. However, the session will focus on launching the new national anthem.
Both chambers of Congress had already approved a bill changing the national song from “Arise, O Compatriots” to “Nigeria, We Hail Thee” in separate sessions.
The joint sitting voted to abandon the current national anthem, which had been in use since 1978, and instead adopt the recently signed national anthem, “Nigeria, we hail thee,” which was previously in use before the president signed the law to restore it.
In place of the more recent “Arise, O Compatriots” song is the more traditional “Nigeria, we hail thee,” written in honour of Nigeria’s independence on October 1, 1960.
Frances Berda wrote the music for “Nigeria, we hail thee,” while British expatriate Lillian Jean Williams wrote the words. Williams was a resident of Nigeria at the country’s independence. In the ’60s and ’70s, the song was a unifying force for Nigerians and helped shape their national identity.
Can someone tell me the words to “Nigeria We Hail Thee”?
We praise you, Nigeria, Our beloved home country
We remain united as Nigerians, proud to serve our sovereign motherland, No matter our tribe or language’s differences.
Truth and justice shall reign under our flag, whether in peace or war, and we shall consider it a gain to be able to pass on an unblemished banner to the next generation.
Almighty Creator,
Please, just grant us this one wish: that you would assist us in constructing a country in which no man is enslaved, so that Nigeria may enjoy the blessings of peace and plenty.