Senate President Godswill Akpabio has called out the National Orientation Agency (NOA) for circulating a incorrect version of the newly adopted old National Anthem.
Akpabio noted that the version being circulated by the NOA differs from the one approved by the Senate.
The Senate had earlier deliberated on the issue and went into an executive session for over two hours before adjourning plenary to July 2.
Before the adjournment, Akpabio requested that the lawmakers recite the first stanza of the new National Anthem.
He then pointed out the discrepancies between the version approved by the Senate and the one being circulated by the NOA.
Akpabio highlighted specific differences in the wording, including “Nigerians all” versus “Nigerians all and proud to say”, “though” versus “those”, and “Nigeria shall be blessed” versus “Nigeria may be blessed”.
He emphasized that the Senate’s version uses “shall”, which implies a compulsory blessing for the country.
The Senate had passed the National Anthem Bill 2024 two weeks ago, reverting to the old national anthem “Nigeria, we hail thee”.
The bill was quickly assented to by President Bola Tinubu on May 29. Akpabio urged the NOA to drop their version and adopt the correct one approved by the Senate.