The unexpected decision to change the national anthem, in a country that already suffers from a serious lack of national identity, is a mistake. This move, by President Tinubu, would only serve to further exacerbate this lack of a shared identity by stripping away an anthem that has been used for nearly 5 decades at this point.
The decision to change the Nigerian national anthem by President Tinubu is one that has come as a surprise to many. However, this has been an issue that Tinubu has spoken about before. In the past he had mentioned that he felt that the now former anthem, “Arise O Compatriots” was not “patriotic enough.” So he had expressed his desire to have the anthem changed back to its original anthem, that had been adopted during the colonial era.
This obviously poses many questions: one, why would we use a song from the colonial era after we have gained independence? A song that was not even written by a Nigerian, when there are literally hundreds of millions of Nigerians who could potentially write a national anthem.
Another question is why should the desire of one man be enough to change the national anthem used by everyone in the country since 1978. Yes, he is the president, however that shouldn’t give him free reign to change a national symbol as important as the national anthem of our country. Especially in a country where any sense of unity or shared identity is severely lacking.
Nigeria is a nation divided
Like numerous other African countries, Nigeria’s borders had been drawn up during the colonial era. This has meant that, all sorts of people hailing from differing cultures and religions, speaking different languages, had been grouped together to form Nigeria. These differences in culture have caused major divisions throughout Nigeria’s history and continue to be a source of friction today.
Our biggest source of division is along religious lines. The values of people from the predominantly Islamic Northern Nigeria often clash with those of the predominantly Christian Southern Nigeria.
A national anthem should be a source of national pride and unity. However, through this action, the president has turned it into an area of further debate and disagreement. The only thing that has been achieved through this action is giving Nigerians even less areas where any kind of agreement can be reached.
It’s not as if the national anthem had been unpopular. There had been no calls from the public to change the anthem for any reason whatsoever. The only person who had any reason to change the anthem was the president, and that should not be enough to change the national song for hundreds of millions of people, which had been used for many decades.
Tinubu is an incredibly unpopular figure
Perhaps the thing that makes this situation even worse is the fact that Tinubu is an incredibly unpopular figure at the moment. Due to the fact that millions of Nigerians are currently suffering as a result of his administration’s economic policies.
The Nigerian Naira is currently considered the world’s worst performing currency. The Naira has been in a full on crisis mode throughout the administration of President Tinubu.
It is very easy to make the argument that his administration has better things it should be worried about other than changing the national anthem. The lives of Nigerians have become significantly worse than compared to just a few years ago. Poverty, insecurity, failing infrastructure, there are so many things that need to be addressed. Why should the national anthem, of all things, be of any concern at this point in time?