President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed the National Anthem Bill 2024 to revert to the old National Anthem: “Nigeria, We Hail Thee.”
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio announced this on Wednesday, during a joint session of the National Assembly to mark 25 years of uninterrupted democracy.
D’Gallery gathered that the joint session sang the new national anthem before the arrival of President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima among other top government officials.
Recall that the Senate and the House of Representatives had previously passed the legislation to swap the national anthem from “Arise, O Compatriots” to “Nigeria, We Hail Thee” at separate sittings.
After the president signed the bill, the joint sitting revoked the ‘Arise O’ Compatriots’ which has been in existence since 1978 and adopted the newly signed national anthem: ‘Nigeria, We Hail Thee.
The old anthem, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee,” composed when Nigeria gained independence on October 1, 1960, has replaced the “Arise, O Compatriots” anthem.
Lyrics to the old National 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.
