By Ojo Oyewamide
Critics of Nigeria’s reversion to the old national anthem are enemies of the country. These enemies of progress and development are also spiritually blind. They have deployed all sorts of arguments against the new-old anthem, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee”, since the country reverted to it some days ago.
Some of the critics, including a former minister, have vowed not to have anything to do with the anthem, let alone sing it. There is a viral video of one irresponsible lady’s disregard for the anthem in a public gathering. There are also some unpatriotic Nigerians who are questioning the material utility of the anthem. Will it bring down prices of goods including that of garri?, they foolishly ask.
Building a nation is not about garri and epa or bread and butter alone. Certain virtues must be embraced. The greatest problem of Nigeria is that it doesn’t have genuinely patriotic and nationalistic people as citizens. Nigerians love their groups – ethnic groups, religious groups, political groups etc – more than the country. Their fidelity is more to these groups than Nigeria.
If a member of any of your groups is wrecking havoc on the country, you will not condemn their action. You only criticise if the action is carried out by any member of the other groups. If you belong to a ruling political party that is ruining the country, what you will say is, “my party is my party.” You don’t bother about the condition of Nigeria. This bad attitude is attributable to the absence of the spirit of genuine patriotism.
So, Nigeria needs an anthem that will always invoke the spirit of patriotism and nationalism in Nigerians. This realization by our leaders and rulers is the wisdom behind the discarding of the old-new anthem, “Arise, O Compatriots”, which is too weak to invoke the spirit of brotherhood. Now that we have reverted to “Nigeria, We Hail Thee”, every Nigerian will be genuinely patriotic and nationalistic. Nigerians will see one another as brothers instead of compatriots.
Where there is brotherhood, love will reign. Where there is love, killings will stop. Kidnappings will end. All forms of crimes and corruption will become a thing of the past. If official corruption stops, progress and development will come. These are some of the benefits of the new-old anthem that some idiotic Nigerians have not seen.
Those criticising the reverting to the British-originated anthem don’t know the spiritual efforts our leaders and rulers have made to get the country out of the woods. They don’t know how many mountains our leaders have climbed to seek the face of God. These critics don’t know how many wolis they have consulted. They don’t know how many alfas and babalawos our leaders have visited before they spiritually realised that the new-old anthem is the magic wand that will help in resetting Nigeria.
The past was always better than the present in Nigeria. That is why our leaders and rulers are returning the country to the past. Old things are better than new ones. As we begin to sing “Nigeria, We Hail Thee”, old things will begin to displace new things. Old price of garri will return. Old price of rice will return. Old prices of everything will return. The killing prices of goods will disappear.
This is the new, heart-warming reality that our leaders and rulers saw in the spiritual realm before bringing back the old anthem. Instead of praising these leaders, some useless people, who don’t know what obtains in the spiritual realm, are condemning them. They dismiss the new-old anthem as a nauseating colonial relic.
Why calling the anthem a colonial relic even when we are still in the tight grip of colonial mentality after many years of the so-called independence? When our cultures have not recovered from the colonial onslaught. When the colonial language has wrestled down our languages. When our religions and festivals are dirty in our eyes. And when our minds are still in colonial captivity.
Apart from the political, economic, social and spiritual gains of the Oyinbo-originated anthem, singing it will also bring emotional and psychological satisfaction to Nigerians because it is sweet. Don’t you think the new-old national anthem is sweet?
Ojo Oyewamide writes from Abibirih Lane, Isolo, Akure.
