*What Has Changing the National Anthem Got to Do with the Price of Rice and Beans in Fadeyi?*(Dr. Ope Banwo, the Mayor of Fadeyi, discusses the issues arising from President Tinubu’s collusion with NASS to change the National Anthem at a time of critical hardship for most in the nation )

1. I have been young in Nigeria, and now I am older but Nigeria never has never ceased to amaze me, and the extent to which the elites from Ikoyi (as led by our President and his Rolex or Patel Philippe wristwatch wearing Lieutenants) will go to keep distracting and oppressing the hapless masses from the Fadeyi side of life appears to know no bounds.

2. In a country where over 50% of our citizens are either unemployed or grossly underemployed, where hundreds of factories shut down yearly while we churn out over 600,000 new graduates annually into a shrinking workforce, I find it disgustingly fascinating that we have allowed our nation to be distracted into debating changing the national anthem instead of seriously discussing how to solve our most pressing problems.

3. While I have no personal issues with most of the words of the 1960 national anthem, I do not think the words of the ‘Nigeria We Hail Thee’ anthem are significantly better than those of ‘Arise, O Compatriots’ in any significant way. In fact, the old anthem enjoined our leaders and fathers to hand over ‘a banner without stain.’  Yet, except for those who are benefitting from the badly stained banner, where our country’s reputation is among the lowest in the world and where a five-year graduate cannot dream of buying a Tokunbo car with their salary, and where we just conducted one of the most ‘wuru-wuru’ elections the world has ever seen, with the ultimately winning presidential candidate embroiled in controversies that included allegations of rigging; allegations of drug dealing; allegations of unverified certificates; allegations of unverified childhood; allegations of name switching; rumors about health; etc., almost everyone agrees that our national banner is definitely stained.

4. Our banner has already been stained for so many years even before Jagaban emerged on the scene, it is almost a mockery of Nigerians to now ask anyone to hand over ‘a banner without stain.’ How would they do that when they are holding a badly stained , corruption riddled, and blood spattered banner with the blood of Endsars Youths in their hands?

5. In my opinion, if we must change anything, it’s the banner itself and the leaders hoisting it that need to be changed. Our symbols are badly tarnished, and our name is in major disrepute globally. So, changing the banner and even the name of the country makes more sense than changing the national anthem. Words mean nothing when the visual proof makes you want to lower your head in shame.

6. In any case, and MOST IMPORTANTLY,  how is the change of anthem going to help Mama Lati afford the price of petrol for her I-pass-my-Neighbor Generator so she can continue eking out her subsistence living as a pepper grinder ? or how will that new national anthem help Mama Ngozi to better feed her 6 children with her bare provisions store and a husband who is making the minimum wage of N30,000 but being owed 3 months salary by his wicked G-Wagon driving employer? Or how does a new national anthem help the 40-year old Sule the Gate Man maintain his family of 5 with a salary of N25,000 per month while living in a leaky gatehouse?

7. So instead of being jubilant about this unfortunate red herring that is based on nothing by our President’s lifelong fantasy, we must ask our President and the NASS, why they chose to take us back to a forgettable national anthem instead of continuing to urge our compatriots to arise? Or even better still, why didn’t they just draft a new one that resonates with our youths of today, most of whom have no clue about the old anthem and zero inclination to hail their country with what their eyes have seen from their leaders and elders in three last 9 years.

8. What is even more baffling to me is that nobody, not the President, not the NASS, and none of the apologists for the old national anthem have given us any clear reasoning why the old national anthem is better than the one we have had since 1978. All they had to tell us is that the old anthem sounded more melodious. What? Truth is Word for word, the ‘Arise, O Compatriots’ anthem has better words than the ‘Nigeria We Hail Thee.’ The 1978 anthem looks forward, while the 1960 anthem seemed stuck in both ancient English, and ancient realities, that have nothing to do with most people’s daily lives today. Don’t take my word for it. Go and read both AGAIN.

9. Furthermore, I am very amazed that our National Assembly took only six days to introduce the idea of changing the national anthem to passing the law and getting it signed by the President. That must be a record for passing a law in Nigeria, and it’s disgusting that they did it over changing a national anthem that has no emergency utility for suffering Nigerians, and arguably an unnecessary exercise in a nation grappling with crippling economic, social, religious, and existential problems. What a shame.

10. Also, in my opinion, it’s the spirit of backwardness that has gripped this nation since the time of Buhari that continues to plague us. If we really wanted a new anthem, why not write a new one that will capture the realities of today? Why must we go back to the anthem bequeathed to us by the colonial masters 64 years ago? (Sure, the people who selected the 1960 anthem were a team of Nigerians, but it is very instructive about the colonial mentality of those people that they still chose a foreigner to write and perform our national anthem at a time we were supposedly celebrating independence from Britain. Shior to them all!)

11. Now, today in 2024, we have a 70+ year old President and a very irresponsible National Assembly who thought going back to the past anthem is the way to our future. Kilode gaan! To me, those celebrating the back-to-the-past anthem are just caught up in the distracting red herring and really are not asking the right questions. What Nigerians should be asking President Tinubu is, ‘What has the change in national anthem got to do with the price of rice and beans on Fadeyi streets?’ or even on the streets of Ikoyi  for that matter. It must also be pointed out that in a nation with almost 50% of its vibrant youth unemployed or grossly underpaid, it’s a shame that our President and his rubber-stamp NASS decided that changing the national anthem is more important than executing a mass employment initiative in agriculture or digital skills empowerment. Proposals to create mass employment sent to the government and the NASS keep gathering dust on their tables while they decided to go back to singing ‘Nigeria We Hail Thee.’ Other than old school pastors reading King James Bible, who even uses those archaic words like ‘we hail THEE’ today?

12. In my personal opinion, I think this change in national anthem is a poor attempt to create a red herring for the people and divert us from discussing the real issues. For several weeks now, and this article is proof too, Nigerians have been distracted into discussing the merits or demerits of reintroducing an archaic national legacy anthem from the colonial masters instead of talking about the failed monetary policies of the CBN and many of the ‘Eyije Eyioje’ trial and error policies of the government we have been witnessing for the last year.

13.  In conclusion, We at Fadeyi understand and accept that President Bola Ahmed is our de facto and de jure President for now, even though the way the 2023 elections were conducted still left a sour taste in our mouths. We wish him well since his failure as the President will be the collective failure of Nigerians, and his success as President is our collective success too. However, we strongly beg and urge him and his generals and captains in government to please focus on more pressing issues in the nation like solving this vexing power problem; creating mass employment for our youths; increasing the minimum wage, boosting local production and igniting an agricultural revolution, among others, instead of trying to major in the minor things like the national anthem redesign.

Yes, My name is Ope Banwo, The Mayor Of Fadeyi, and I think the change of national anthem is an unnecessary waste of time, waste of money, and waste of energy for the nation at this time. We can do better. Nass can do better and President Tinubu can do better.