“A regime that is reeked of hateful tribalism, nepotism, vindictiveness and victimisation can’t have any moral justification to preach for national integration, reconciliation, repentance, justice, peace and unity. It’s already a house built on an impunity of false policy imposition.”- DSM
Recently, I went back to read the content and context of the colonial masters hoisted national anthem, and I tried to compare it with the discarded home-made anthem, and frankly speaking, I was wondering if those who asked us to go back to the old national anthem actually read it.
Just to refresh our memories, and probably understand why I am in a dilemma between what we profess and what we eventually do. I took my time to read the content and context of the old wine in a new bottle of our national anthem.
“Nigeria, we hail thee
Our own dear native land
Though tribes and tongues may differ
In brotherhood, we stand
Nigerians all, are proud to serve
Our sovereign Motherland.
Our flag shall be a symbol
That truth and justice reign
In peace or battle, honour’d
And this we count as gain
To hand on to our children
A banner without stain.
O God of all creation
Grant this our one request
Help us to build a nation
Where no man is oppressed
And so with peace and plenty
Nigeria may be blessed.’
The Nigeria pledge of allegiance is:
“I pledge to Nigeria, my country
To be faithful, loyal and honest
To serve Nigeria with all my strength
To defend her unity and uphold her honor and glory
So help me God.”
This pledge is recited immediately after the national anthem, and it’s a solemn promise of one’s loyalty and devotion to his or her country. It was written by Felicia Adebola Adeyoyin in 1976.
I will confine my discourse on the renewed national anthem, but for historical evidence, let me give us a background storyline of the archived but now, a brand new National Anthem of a confused society.
A national anthem or pledge should be the anchor of our existence as Nigerians, either as a leader or as a citizen. They’re the embodiments of who we are, and should aspire to be as a people under the banner of an independent country. When we sing our national anthem, or stand in awe to pledge for our country, we should feel the aura of nationalism and patriotism that ought to galvanise our energies into dying for one’s country. The sad reality is that most of us don’t feel any ideological inference even when we pretend to recite both the anthem and pledge. Our leaders failed to seek out what makes a citizen of Nigeria to feel indifference whenever we stand up to sing our national anthem, or pledge our allegiance to our country.
“Changing a national anthem doesn’t change the ideology of a people, especially those, who are already feeling neglected and dehumanised by the country’s elites.” – DSM
The old national anthem of Nigeria lyrics, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee” was written by Lillian Jean Williams, and the music was composed by Frances Benda, and the song was adopted in 1960, when Nigeria gained independence. In 1978, it was replaced by “Arise, O Compatriots” during the OBJ’s first leadership enthronement. However, on May 29, 2024, within 24 hours of deliberations, the bill was passed by NASS, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee” was re-adopted.
Why am I delving into this topic, the answer is becoming very obvious that Nigeria has been bedeviled by the nepotistic governance system without any priority list to our economic strategies. A situation where it’s becoming very worrisome that leadership has become a tribal trademark of appointments and government patronage. Since 1960, when Nigeria got its independence, never have we seen the impunity and careless impositions of tribesmen and women in high places of our governance structure as now. APC has now become a change agent that refused to change its contents and contexts since it took over from a fraud infested PDP regime.
PMB started with the impositions of his Fulanis into certain positions and totally ignored the South East. Rather than being remorse, he derogated all the South Eastern enclaves as a DOT. The impunity exhibited by PMB has now become a national ideology, and hence, PBAT has elevated his level of impunity profligacy and nepotistic policies in a higher geometric frequency. The South East has become a theatre of various types of intimidation, humiliation, destruction and outright marginalisation.
Recently, PBAT appointed 16 core appointments, and the whole of South East was totally ignored. I thought that democracy is all about the people, a project that enhances the collective governance system. A voting pattern doesn’t disenfranchise any citizen of his or her rights to be treated equally as any other citizens. It’s no longer a case of ideological differences, but a scenario of spatting at the faces of all South Easterners. Yet, some Nigerians are so myopic to open their dirty mouths to applaud this brazen injustice, simply because, the South East didn’t vote for PBAT. Does a citizen’s right to vote his or her preferred candidate a measure of his or tribal, religious and political affiliations neglect?
The president becomes a father of all immediately he or she is sworn into office, and Nigeria and Nigerians become a collective national anthem. What we have experienced since 2015 is a system that may probably end Nigeria if not properly checked. The rights of citizens can never be compromised by leaders who are more inclined to personal, tribal, religious and political interests or sentiments. The warm embrace of unity, love and peace can never be enacted in a society where some regions are treated as slaves. Never, and if it continues, Nigeria is heading to a subtle underground disintegration, and sadly, our leaders are blinded by the cosy atmosphere in their offices.
Please follow me and let’s digest the content and context of our national anthem by taking each stanza as our study pack.
“Nigeria, we hail thee
Our own dear native land
Though tribes and tongues may differ
In brotherhood, we stand
Nigerians all, are proud to serve
Our sovereign Motherland”
From the above first stanza, ‘can all Nigerians be proud to call Nigeria, ‘our own dear native land?’ With what our leaders have turned leadership into in Nigeria, Nigeria can only be described as a dear native land by only the region that holds the presidential power.
‘Though tribes and tongues may differ
In brotherhood, we stand’
Yes, Nigeria is made up of over 250 ethnic nationalities with different tongues and dialects. The question is, is there any semblance of brotherhood amongst all the ethnicities of Nigeria? Your answer is as good as mine, and this is because, we are just pretenders, faking our disdainful nature against one another. We fight for our tribes, religions and political parties, and never care about what BROTHERHOOD connotes. We deceive ourselves as each policy of any government tends to protect, promote and support our tribal, religious and political differences. As of now, we are standing on the trajectory of nepotism, and it’s becoming more popular than the dividend yield of democracy.
‘Nigerians all, are proud to serve
Our sovereign Motherland’
Sincerely, how many Nigerians are proud to serve Nigeria in all honesty? The truth is NONE. That’s why corruption has become a national brand ambassador in Nigeria. Everyone is trying to out pace one another in the act of stealing our commonwealth. No Nigerian can boast of putting Nigeria’s interests first before his or her own. We are all culprits, and unfortunately, believing in our stupidity stuff in religious rituals. Nigerians don’t believe in a country, whose leaders have failed them several times. Our young ones are the most affected, and hence, every day, their carcasses are littering at the Mediterranean sea and Sahara desert. They’ve lost hope and how can such a people serve a country that has dashed their hope of living decently as human beings?
Second Stanza:
‘Our flag shall be a symbol
That truth and justice reign
In peace or battle, honour’d
And this we count as gain
To hand on to our children
A banner without stain’.
Our flag has been degraded, and instead of being a symbol of truth and justice, it has become a caricature of elections rigging sprees, kidnappings, ancestral homes displacements, IDP CAMPS, terrorism, bandits, hunger and poverty. How can we talk about truth, justice, peace when all instruments of governance structures are used to destabilise any good intentions of Nigerians. A situation where a tribe is targeted for annihilation, and you think that such a tribe will fold its hands and watch aimlessly?
“Truth can only reign in a society where both the citizens and leaders are in tandem with integrity and honesty, either as servants or leaders.”- DSM
Nigeria of the present has reduced the ideals of truth, justice and peace, and every Nigerian is the architect of what we are going through. When a victim refuses to acknowledge good characters in his or her choice for leadership enthronement, he or she won’t be accorded any respect, justice and peace by the chosen oppressors. This is the crossroad that Nigerians are facing right now, and fortunately or unfortunately, no Nigerian can claim ignorance of the characters of those who are in charge of our governance system. The sad reality is that we are handing over to our children, a banner so stained with poverty, insecurity, debts, hatred and many innocent Nigerians bloodshed. It’s as raw as the only truth and justice that we are faced with right now.
The third stanza tends to mock God Almighty.
‘O God of all creation
Grant this our one request
Help us to build a nation
Where no man is oppressed
And so with peace and plenty
Nigeria may be blessed’
God Almighty has given us everything that will make us great as a country, but we have refused to think or use our brains to work our way to abundance. We depend so much on our prayers and fasting, and yet, we want God Almighty to come down and feed us. Prayer, Faith and Fasting without works are just mere physical rituals. That’s why we can organise a prayer or fasting time table for forty days, and at the end of the ritual, we are back to oppress the vulnerable, steal without conscience, rig elections without remorse and kill our fellow Nigerians because of our tribal or religious differences. God Almighty can only help a society that actually needs help, but definitely not Nigeria that has murdered its own citizens, stole from its own natural resources and regaled in sinful acts. God Almighty will also bless a country that blesses its citizens with God’s amazing natural resources.
“You can’t destroy your household or steal from your community and still expect God Almighty or someone else to reward you for your wickedness, carelessness and stealing prowess. God Almighty is Sovereign and will never bless a murderer or a thief.” – DSM.
God Almighty cannot be mocked. He has endowed Nigeria with the best of all resources, human and materials, and sadly, we are destroying and stealing what ought to benefit all citizens. Religiosity is not just about verbal incantation, it’s all about practical RIGHT DOING. Even naturally, nobody will help a friend who is nothing but a liability…and frankly speaking, NIGERIA is probably a liability for God Almighty to condone all her atrocities with a solemn mentality of a Divine blessing.
Before I am misconstrued as a tribal bigot, let me conclude with our much vaunted National Pledge. Again, let us take a holistic approach in analysing the truth as to what was written and the falsehood in its actual practice.
“I pledge to Nigeria, my country
To be faithful, loyal and honest
To serve Nigeria with all my strength
To defend her unity and uphold her honor and glory
So help me God.”
It’s very instructive to note that the pledge has a classical rhythm, but in practice, it was a hollowed idea without any iota of substance that we can point at. It’s well composed but it’s hardly noticed by most Nigerians national ideology psychics.
In the realities of who humans are, we can only pledge our allegiance to a country that we trust and respect.
We can only be faithful, loyal and honest in a society where justice, fairness and equality are sacrosanct to its judiciary and administrative governance systems.
We can only serve a society with our strength if such a society can protect and defend us and our properties with a clear cut policy enactment that understands the sacredness of a single citizen’s right to live and live decently.
We can only defend, honour and glorify a country where the citizens are treated with the same honour and glory by its leadership. A country that gives its citizens the global image of dignity and respect will invariably, showcase a nation of integrity. If a country respects its citizens, treats them with honest, sincere and transparent warm embrace, where all citizens are equal before one another, then, citizens will uphold and honour their country, and in the same vein, God Almighty in His infinite benevolence nature will bless such a nation.
I am not sounding as a pessimist, but with the current nepotistic governance system in Nigeria, I doubt if any of our prayers will pass the ceilings of where we are praying from. The atrocities are horrible, and even those who ought to preach repentance are more immersed in the caricature of ungodliness.
When the top radiates falsehood, what exactly can the bottom do, especially, when all the policies are being enacted by falsehood characters?
As we ponder, let us remind our leaders that this life is a smoke screen. We are tenants on the earth, and all that we need is different from all the exotic wants. Just one day, we will all fade away… nothing will be heard of us, except the positive or negative legacies we’ve left behind.
We can’t talk about the National Anthem and Pledge without a thorough analysis of what exactly each stanza tends to portray as the best living standard, principle and pattern in our harmonious relationships with one another; and our contributions to our national success or failure. It’s a choice between good and evil… there’s no two ways to describe a thief other than a thief….and that’s why I have decided to come in PEACE.
Dr. Sunny Oby Maduka (DSM), is an Author, Resource Personality, Management Consultant/ Trainer, Chartered/Certified – Au d i t o r / A c c o u n t a n t , Financial Compliance Expert, Economic/Political Analyst Strategist, Marine Expert and Motivationist)
