In May, most Nigerians like Chimezie Uwaoma woke up to the news that the country was going back to its old national anthem, an anthem that Uwaoma last sang more than 4 decades ago.
Uwaoma, a businessman tried to remember the lyrics and sing to it, but he forgot the lyrics midway.
“If I settle down I will be able to recite it, but for sure I know it you understand, I have no problem with that at all, they are all good by so reading because the people that wrote it are not fools, they know what they wrote, but doing it is the problem my brother, doing it can we settle down to do it, can we settle down to implement what really is written there, can we be brothers?” he said.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu signed a bill switching back to a national anthem composed by a British expatriate and adopted at independence, a move some dismissed as a cynical distraction from an escalating economic crisis.
“We Hail Thee” will now be used instead of “Arise O’ Compatriots.” The bill introduced a few days earlier received an accelerated adoption without any legislative debate.
Nigeria’s economy has plunged during Tinubu’s first year in office, which he marked on May 29 by addressing parliament, with inflation reaching a 28-year high of 33.20%.
“I think the lyrics are good although I can’t sing it, I see a lot of things there that are very fine by the writing, but to what is trending, that shouldn’t be what Nigeria should be talking about to do now. I think there should be something else that we should focus on, like the crisis going on, like the prices of foodstuff, fuel, transportation, how no job and all of those things. I think that should be more important,” Clement Ehizua said.
The independence anthem was repealed in 1978 by Olusegun Obasanjo, a military head of state at the time, without giving an official reason, but it was understood it was because it was written by a Briton during British colonial rule.
The move has been met with incredulity by some Nigerians as the country reels from the economic crisis and deteriorating security.
“For the first time in the history of Nigeria of over 100 years, Nigeria is exporting music, Nigeria is exporting media, Nigeria is now a country with all its problems that is exporting arts, so there is something counter-intuitive for a country that is exporting art to be importing its own anthem,” Kila told Reuters.
Kila is also worried about the use of words like ‘tribe’ and ‘native’ in the now-new anthem.
“It is an imperialist language and it is a shame that we are embracing it. It just tells you that it wasn’t thought through,” Kila said.
The recalled national anthem is still causing some confusion on the international scene.
On June 10, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) voiced its displeasure with the Benin Republic Football Federation’s mistake that led to the playing of the old Nigerian national anthem before the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Abidjan.
