The Nigerian Senate has approved the National Anthem Bill of 2024.
The bill, which seeks to reinstate the old anthem “Nigeria, We Hail Thee” in place of the current one “Arise o Compatriots,” passed through its first and second readings. It now awaits President Tinubu’s signature to become law.
E-CityNews had earlier reported that the Nigerian Senate held a Secret Session on changing the Nigerian anthem and expedited the bill for 1st and 2nd reading on the same day.
The act to replace the anthem with the one ‘Nigeria, We Hail Thee’ was adopted as the country’s first national anthem on October 1, 1960, but was dropped in 1978 by the Olusegun Obasanjo military regime.
The ruling by Senate President Godswill Akpabio and other legislators for the plenary to pass the bill for 1st and 2nd reading the same day took place on Thursday.
