House Of Reps Passes Bill To Revert To Old National Anthem

House or Reps pass Bill to revert to the old anthem passes second reading at Senate

A bill seeking to revert to the old Nigerian National Anthem has passed a second reading at the Senate.

The bill seeks to replace the current National Anthem with the former one, which was adopted on Independence Day on 1 October 1960 but was dropped in 1978 by the then-military administration of Olusegun Obasanjo.

It was first read during the plenary on Thursday and passed for first and second readings after most senators supported it when the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, put it to vote.

The senate president thereafter referred it to the Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights, and Legal Matters and Internal Affairs for further legislative action and report back as soon as possible.

“Nigeria, We Hail Thee” was adopted as the country’s first national anthem upon gaining independence from Britain in 1960.

Lillian Jean Williams, a British expatriate who lived in Nigeria when it achieved independence, wrote the anthem’s lyrics while Frances Berda composed the music.