The House of Representatives has passed a bill requiring the nation to revert to the old national anthem composed by Nigeria’s colonial master, Britain.
There were some opposition on the floor of the House when the bill was passed that the nation should revert to the old National Anthem, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee.”
The bill sponsored by the Majority Leader, Julius Ihonvbere, was debated for a second reading and rushed through a third reading amid opposition from some lawmakers.
Leading the debate on the bill, Mr Ihonvbere said the content of the old anthem is far better than the current one.
Speaking against the bill, the Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda said the anthem should not be a thing of priority to Nigerians.
While opposing the bill, Mr Chinda said the old anthem was composed by colonialists and adopting it would mean going back.
“For every law, there must be a spirit to it. If we are asked what is the essence of this law, I would talk about history.
“What does this old national anthem represent? This history dates back to colonialism. We dropped it because we wanted an Anthem to remove us from colonialism. The old anthem was composed by foreigners,” he said.
Following the debate, the bill was put to vote by Deputy Speaker, Ben Kalu who presided over the session, however, the “nay” voices appeared louder, yet the presiding officer called the vote in favour of “ayes”.
This ruling generated complaints from lawmakers, however, the Deputy Speaker insisted on the ruling.
Amid the opposition, the Deputy Speaker rushed the motion through.
The old National Anthem was written by Lillian Jean Williams, composed by Frances Berda and sung between 1960 and 1978
