The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has declared that its version of the new national anthem, released last week, is the correct one.
Lanre Issa-Onilu, Director-General of NOA, responded in a statement issued on Tuesday by the agency’s Deputy Director of Press, Paul Odenyi, as reported by Premium Times.
This statement came after Senate President Godswill Akpabio pointed out errors in the NOA’s version during Tuesday’s plenary session.
During the session, Akpabio highlighted discrepancies in lines three, five, and 18 of the anthem released by NOA.
He noted, “Where you have, ‘Nigerians all, are proud to serve,’ they said ‘Nigerians all, and proud to serve,’ that is number one, it should be ‘are’. And then it said ‘though tribes and tongues may differ,’ they said, ‘though tribe and tongue’.
I hope you understand, and at the end where we said ‘Nigeria shall be blessed,’ they did not say so. They said ‘Nigeria may be blessed’. We are using the word shall, which is compulsion, that this country shall be blessed. So, tell the National Orientation Agency to drop what they are circulating now. Congratulations to all of us.”
Issa-Onilu, in his statement, clarified that the NOA’s version remains the corrected lyrics approved in the Act signed by President Bola Tinubu.
He added that the audio version would be released soon.
