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President Bola Tinubu has signed the National Anthem Bill 2024 into law, reinstating the old national anthem, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee”.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced this on Wednesday during a joint session of the National Assembly, which celebrated the Silver Jubilee of Nigeria’s 4th Republic.
This event also marked the first anniversary of President Tinubu’s administration.
President Tinubu later joined the session and confirmed that “Nigeria, We Hail Thee” is now the official national anthem.
Akpabio stated that the session’s main purpose was to launch the new anthem, adding that the President would not give a speech as he needed to leave for the inauguration of the Abuja metro line.
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The Senate and the House of Representatives had previously approved the change from “Arise, O Compatriots” to “Nigeria, We Hail Thee” in separate sittings.
With the President’s signing of the bill, the anthem that has been in use since 1978 was replaced with the earlier anthem, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee”.
The original anthem, composed when Nigeria gained independence on October 1, 1960, was written by Lillian Jean Williams, a British expatriate in Nigeria at the time, with music by Frances Berda. “Nigeria, We Hail Thee” was a significant symbol of national identity and unity during the 1960s and late 1970s.
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,
The Lyrics to Nigeria, We Hail Thee
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.
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