Co-author of the former Nigerian National Anthem ‘Arise O’compatriots,’ Dr. Sota Omoigui, has said the recent reversal to the colonial national anthem was a betrayal of Nigeria’s independence.

Omoigui described the action as a symbol of a political leadership that is clueless and crawling on its hands and knees to kiss the ring of its colonial master by re-adopting their anthem, including its music and lyrics.

He accused President Bola Tinubu and members of the National Assembly of changing the National Anthem he co-Authored for “Nigeria we hail thee,” saying, “Nigerian leaders want Nigerians to hail the 53 percent unemployment rate of our youths and the 34 percent unemployment rate of our adults. They want us to hail Nigeria for the minimum monthly wage of N30, 000.00, whose earners have to work for three months to purchase a bag of rice that costs N100,000.

“They want us to hail no electricity, roads, pipe borne water, dilapidated and unsanitary schools with no roofs or windows and our children learning knee deep in flood waters under open skies, as rain beats the knowledge out of their heads; dilapidated health care systems, including some of our university teaching hospitals that are death traps, where there are limited medications, a few supplies of equipment, and in many cases, not even running water. Is that the Nigeria they now want us to hail?” he asked.

Lamenting further, he said: “They want to now force Nigerians to sing, ‘Nigeria, we hail thee.’ We should hail being terrorized by bandits and Boko Haram that kidnap our children from school, hijack our citizens on the highway and kill our farmers when they go to their farms.

Dr Omoigui insisted that the colonial anthem was the right anthem at independence and not now because Nigerians people who groan under the yoke of the endemic corruption that afflicts the land and does not allow them to breathe were not going to hail Nigeria.

“Our people who suffer in poverty with a currency that has undergone 1000 percent devaluation since we first wrote the anthem and a minimum monthly wage that creates food insecurity have nothing to hail Nigeria for.

“As I have stated in one of my prior speeches, when food prices exceed the salary of a worker, men sell their dignity and women their honor. Billions budgeted for palliatives to give to the poor and needy are looted and shared among those in the political leadership,” he said.

He challenged the leaders to change their ways and not the anthem, and charged Nigerians to “Arise and resist this modern day slavery. Arise and resist singing this lie of a colonial anthem they want you to sing.”

He emphasized that the only people that should stand up and sing ‘Nigeria we hail thee,’ are looters, thieves, bandits, kidnappers, internet fraudsters, and the politicians who pillage and plunder the commonwealth of the people. “Otherwise if you do not belong to any of these categories and you sing it, you are a liar because there is nothing to hail. The minimum wage is being negotiated from N30, 000 while each Senator earns about N30 million every month. Changing the anthem and expecting a different result is insanity,” he submitted.

While recommending a solution to the myriad of challenges facing the nation, the nationalist said: “If you have to change the anthem, I suggest this verse for you to consider and which embodies your values that you can much more easily live up to – Oh Nigeria, Oh Nigeria; Our haven of delight; From the swamps of the Delta to the hills of Somorika; In cunning we excel; Our hands may grasp, our pockets to fill; In secret deals we find our thrill; Let no one see our secret ways; In darkness we shall stay; With every lie and every bribe, and every loot, we share; We seize another day.” (The Sun)

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