A renowned Constitutional lawyer and human rights activist, Prof Mike Ozekhome SAN, has hailed President Bola Tinubu for assenting to the National Anthem Bill 2024 reverting to the old national anthem, “Nigeria, we hail thee”.
“Apples Bite” had earlier reported President Bola Tinubu, who later joined a joint session of the National Assembly marking the Silver Jubilee of Nigeria’s 4th Republic, assented to the National Anthem Bill 2024 reverting to the old national anthem, “Nigeria, we hail thee”.
In a trending video on social media, sited by “Apples Bite” on Wednesday, Ozekhome, while addressing members of the Senate, explained that the former national anthem does not have the gravitas of the nation.
“I want to say that it is long overdue that we discard the present national anthem, which with all respect, does not have the gravitas, the soul, the heart beat of the nation. It is energizing, it is not aggregative.
Bringing it back is well overdue. It has better lyrics in contest and content
“I, as a patriotic Nigerian, I have always looked at this issue from that Nigerian perspective- how we can make our country better than what it is now. Which was why, Mr President sir, as far back as Wednesday 2nd July, 2014, that is 10 years ago, at the plenary session of the National Confab, I moved the motion for the change of our national anthem back to the one of 1960 on our independence.
“That motion was hotly debated by the 492 delegates at the National Confab, drawn from every spectrum of the Nigerian society. It was carried, and indeed nostalgically, the entire plenary session stood up and sang the old national anthem.
“So, bringing it back is well overdue. It has better lyrics in contest and content, like the Senate president said. It is better than the other one. Indeed, I wrote a book titled “Nigeria, We Hail Thee” 401 pages and it was lunched at the National Confab, just before we ended in 2014. My arguments as adduced can be seen pages 268 to 271. It didn’t start today,” Ozekhome said.
Present national flag of simply Green-White-Green is not inspirational, not just lacking in colour
He urged the lawmakers to appreciate the National Confab of 2014, Chaired by late Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, with Prof Bolaji Akinyemi as the Deputy Chairman of the Confab.
According to the senior lawyer, “It is not only the national anthem that I argued should be brought back, but this was the only one that scaled through. The other argument was that the present national flag of simply Green-White-Green is not inspirational, not just lacking in colour. Look at some flags, like the US, South Africa, UK and many others, you will be able to see what I mean.
My proposal for the change of flag and change of the name Nigeria to Iregin did not scale through
“The older flag had the rising sun in the center, which shoots to all directions of Nigeria- North, South, East and West. At the national Confab, I also moved a motion that we should change the name of Nigeria, which appears to be a burden because of the circumstance it came in to being 8th January 1878 when Flora Louise Shaw, a British journalist, gave her the name Nigeria, after the Niger area.
“But both my proposal for the change of flag and change of the name Nigeria to Iregin did not scale through. I made this proposal by reading it from right to left. These two were shut down and the one of national anthem was carried.”
Watch the video below:
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.
