The Senate on Thursday passed for a second reading a bill to return the national anthem adopted when Nigeria got her independence on October 1, 1960.

This was sequel to the presentation of the bill during plenary by Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central).

Before its passage, the senators held an executive session for almost two hours which was presided by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio.

At the commencement of the plenary, Bamidele said, “You will agree with me that those who were around in the 60s and the late 70s, would attest to the fact that the anthem played quite a significant and crucial role in shaping Nigeria’s national identity and unity, as well as engendered a high sense of value and personal belonging amongst the citizenry.”

After passage, Akpabio referred the bill to the Committee on Federal Character and Intergovernmental Affairs and asked it to report back to the committee of whole as soon as possible. (Daily Trust)