The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has clarified that the official version of the National Anthem, unveiled by the agency, remains the correct lyrics approved by the act signed by President Bola Tinubu on May 29, 2024. This statement comes in response to public assertions made by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
Mallam Issa-Onilu, the Director General of the NOA, addressed media inquiries regarding the anthem’s correct lyrics, emphasizing that the NOA is obligated to promote only the official version as stipulated by parliamentary act. Issa-Onilu suggested that Senate President Akpabio might have been misquoted and urged the media to verify facts before publication.
Despite this, GWG.ng reports that Senator Akpabio was not misquoted. During a Senate session on Tuesday, Akpabio questioned the lyrics circulated by the NOA, pointing out discrepancies:
“Where we have Nigerians ‘all’ are proud to say, they have Nigerians all and proud to say.
“Also, where we have ‘though’ tribes and tongues may differ, they have ‘those’ tribe and tongues.
“Also at the end where we have ‘Nigeria shall be blessed’, they have Nigeria ‘may’ be blessed.”
Senator Akpabio stressed the use of “shall,” indicating a firm assertion that the country will be blessed, and instructed the NOA to cease distributing the current version.
In response, NOA Director-General Issa-Onilu reaffirmed that the released version remains accurate as per the Act signed by the President and approved by the National Assembly. He encouraged the media to review the Act for verification and noted that the agency is working to standardize the instrumental and audio versions of the anthem for public release.
The NOA had recently issued the official version of the National Anthem to guide citizens who might be uncertain about the correct lyrics of the reintroduced old National Anthem.