Senate President Godswill Akpabio has claimed that retaining the old national anthem, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee,” could have prevented banditry and insecurity in the country.
Recently, the Senate and House of Representatives passed the National Anthem Bill 2024, reverting to the old national anthem, which was replaced in 1978.
The bill, which quickly passed its first and second readings on the same day, was signed into law by President Bola Tinubu, officially reinstating “Nigeria, We Hail Thee” as the national anthem.
Punch Online reports that during a visit to the Nigeria Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies in Abuja on Tuesday, Akpabio said that the reintroduced anthem would foster unity, patriotism, and love among Nigerians.
He dismissed criticisms labeling the anthem as a colonial relic, stating, “A lot of people are not aware that there was a panel set up and made up of Nigerians to receive input from all over the world in 1959. So when people are saying we’re bringing in colonial anthem, they need to look into the history of ‘Nigeria, we hail thee.’”
Akpabio also suggested that the anthem’s message could have mitigated current security issues.
“If we had kept to that anthem, we probably would not have banditry today in Nigeria because if you take your neighbour as your brother, you will not want to kill him.”
In addition to discussing the anthem, Akpabio highlighted the Student Loan Bill, which was also passed by the tenth Assembly.
He announced that over 30,000 Nigerian students have been selected to benefit from the student loan scheme, which aims to provide higher education opportunities to the children of poor and underprivileged families.
“One of the most important bills for the tenth Assembly was the bill sent to us by President Bola Tinubu. The Student Loan Bill enables vulnerable Nigerian students, the less privileged, to obtain higher education. And as I speak to you now, over 30,000 Nigerian students have already been selected to benefit from that scheme. That is one of the bills I will say appeal to me the most,” Akpabio said.
