Ozekhome Congratulates President Tinubu Reintroducing Former National Anthem
Human rights lawyer Mike Ozekhome congratulated President Bola Tinubu’s government for reintroducing the former national anthem, Nigeria, we Hail Thee.
Ozekhome stated this when he appeared in an interview with Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday.
He said, “I am not a fantastic fan of the government but if there is one thing I think they have gone right; they have gotten right, and I applaud them for it, it is the reintroduction of this national anthem.”
The National Assembly enacted the National Anthem Bill 2024, which President Tinubu later signed, resulting in the return of the previous national anthem.
While several Nigerians questioned the significance of the reversal, Ozekhome stated that reintroducing the old national anthem “will cement us together”.
Ozekhome said, “I know that it was advertised that there would be a public hearing over the national anthem.
“That was how I heard. Nobody came to invite me specially and if you’re called, you should go and participate. If you don’t participate, you should not cry later.”
He explained that, unlike a constitutional amendment, adopting a new national anthem does not necessitate town hall gatherings at the grassroots level.
Ozekhome bemoaned some Nigerians’ lack of patriotism and hoped that the new anthem would restore it. He stated that the return of the anthem was one of the proposals of the 2014 National Confab.
Ozekhome’s remark came only days after Tinubu backed the return of the anthem, which the President called as a “priority.”
“Let me allude to something that happened yesterday. The change of national anthem, ‘Nigeria, we hail thee’,” President Tinubu said during a meeting with the leadership of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) at the Presidential Villa in Abuja last Thursday.
“Some people say, okay… say what? Is that your priority? It’s my priority. I agree with the National Assembly. If they make law, I’ve got to obey that law, or we disagree openly and close the chapter.”