The Nigerian Senate, on Thursday, passed a bill to return the national anthem titled “Nigeria we hail Thee.”
The Next Edition reports that the old anthem was composed when Nigeria got her independence on October 1, 1960.
The passage of the bill was sequel to the presentation of the bill during plenary by the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central).
At the commencement of the plenary, Bamidele said the old anthem anthem played quite a significant and crucial role in shaping Nigeria’s national identity and unity.
The Ekiti Senator also stated that the anthem engendered a high sense of value and personal belonging amongst the citizenry.
He said: “You will agree with me that those who were around in the 60s and the late 70s, would attest to the fact that the anthem played quite a significant and crucial role in shaping Nigeria’s national identity and unity, as well as engendered a high sense of value and personal belonging amongst the citizenry.”
After the passage of the bill, Senate President Godswill Akpabio referred the bill to the Committee on Federal Character and Intergovernmental Affairs and asked it to report back to the committee of the whole as soon as possible.
Recall that the House of Representatives had earlier also passed the same bill into law.
