CONFUSION??? Moment President Tinubu And Ministers Recite Old National Anthem During FEC Meeting [VIDEO]
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A mild drama played out during the last Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting as President Bola Tinubu, Ministers and other attendees at the meeting recited the old national anthem.
According to a video which surfaced online after the meeting, the anthem was recited immediately the President entered the meeting venue and greeted everyone by saying ‘good afternoon.’
Watch the moment below:
The old anthem begins with the words, “Arise O’ Compatriots,” while the reintroduced national anthem starts with, “Nigeria, we hail thee.”
As of the time of filing this report, it remains unclear why the Federal Executive Council recited the old anthem instead of the officially reintroduced version.
Recall that President Tinubu had, in May 2024, signed a bill to return to the old national anthem, “Nigeria, we hail thee”, that was abolished in 1978 after it was passed by the National Assembly.
Following the signing of the new bill, Senate President Godswill Akpabio suggested that Nigeria’s old national anthem, reintroduced as the new anthem, could have prevented issues of banditry and insecurity in Nigeria.
According to Akpabio, if Nigeria had retained the anthem, it would have taught citizens patriotism and taking your neighbour as your brother would mean you would not want to kill such a person.
He further stated that those labelling the reintroduced anthem as an element of colonialism don’t understand Nigeria’s history because a panel made up of Nigerians was set up in 1959, which received inputs from all over the world regarding the anthem.