Activist Aisha Yesufu has criticised the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, over his 48-hour ultimatum to former Bayelsa State Governor and National Leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Senator Seriake Dickson, demanding clarification on the party’s position regarding Nigeria’s former national anthem.
Yesufu, in a post on X, questioned the minister’s position and suggested that Dickson should not feel compelled to respond to Keyamo’s demand.
The activist reacted while quoting Keyamo’s statement in which he challenged Dickson to clarify whether the NDC officially endorsed the singing of the former national anthem, ‘Arise, O Compatriots’, at a recent party gathering in Lagos State.
She also criticised the circumstances surrounding the restoration of Nigeria’s current national anthem, ‘Nigeria, We Hail Thee’, arguing that Nigerians were not adequately consulted before the change was made.
Yesufu wrote: “If Seriake Dickson answers YOU as in the YOU that watched a National anthem being desecrated, whose history was not considered nor its people consulted before one man decided his ego had to be assuaged and changed it then he fall hand!
“Proper falling! Our South South ancestry go cry for their graves!!!!!
“This monopoly of anyhowness that you think you own has been manufactured by many.”
Her reaction followed Keyamo’s 48-hour ultimatum to Dickson, which he issued in a statement shared on his X account on Saturday.
The minister had questioned why some NDC supporters sang Nigeria’s former national anthem during the party’s town hall meeting in the Oregun area of Lagos State on Thursday, despite the Federal Government’s restoration of ‘Nigeria, We Hail Thee’ as the country’s official national anthem in 2024.
Keyamo argued that a national anthem was more than a ceremonial song, describing it as an important national symbol representing a country’s history, values, identity and sovereignty.
According to him, the deliberate adoption of an alternative anthem by a political group could raise concerns about national unity and potentially suggest an attempt to establish a separate national identity.
He warned that if the leadership of a political organisation formally endorsed such an action, it could be interpreted as support for a secessionist movement.
“A national anthem is one of a country’s national symbols. It represents a country’s history, values and sovereignty. It is meant to unite citizens,” he said.
The minister subsequently challenged Dickson, whom he described as his former classmate and friend, to publicly state whether the NDC officially supported the use of the former national anthem.
“I am therefore officially calling on the original ‘Countryman’, my classmate, my friend and a man of considerable courage from our school days, Senator Seriake Dickson, the official leader of the NDC, to within 48 hours speak up as to whether the NDC officially endorses a proscribed anthem as its own national symbol. The world is waiting,” Keyamo said.
The controversy started after some participants at the NDC town hall meeting began singing ‘Arise, O Compatriots’ instead of the current national anthem.
The incident attracted attention because former Anambra State Governor and NDC presidential candidate, Peter Obi, was among those seen participating in the singing.
However, Funso Doherty, the party’s Lagos State governorship candidate, subsequently explained that the singing was a spontaneous reaction by some participants during an emotional moment at the gathering.
Doherty maintained that the current national anthem was also performed at the event, stressing that the incident should not be interpreted as an attempt by the party to adopt a different national identity.
Keyamo had also criticised Obi and other NDC members during an interview on Eagle 102.5 FM on Friday, accusing them of showing disregard for Nigeria’s national symbols, the law and the office of the President.
“For me, it is left for the Nigerian people to decide whether these human beings you have now seen disregarding national symbols, disrespecting the law and disrespecting the office of the President that they so crave are responsible enough to aspire to that office,” he said.
However, the minister acknowledged during the interview that he was not aware of any specific punishment prescribed by law for singing the former national anthem.
“There’s no penalty that is prescribed by law. No penalty. The law just says this is our new national anthem and then you should think we should all abide by it. It becomes a crime when there’s a penalty attached to it,” he stated.
Nigeria’s original national anthem, ‘Nigeria, We Hail Thee’, was adopted at independence on October 1, 1960, but was replaced by ‘Arise, O Compatriots’ in 1978.
The National Assembly passed legislation to restore the original anthem in 2024, and President Bola Tinubu signed the National Anthem Bill into law on May 29, 2024.