Federal Gov’t To Launch Contest For Production Of New National Anthem

The Federal Government has announced plan to call for entries for the production of the new national anthem with an authentic Nigerian melody.

This was disclosed by the National Orientation Agency (NOA) on Wednesday in Abuja.

Addressing journalists during the presentation of the official version of the new national anthem, Director General of NOA, Lanre Issa-Onilu, said the event was organised to clarify any doubt about the anthem’s correct lyrics as contained in the Act signed by the President.

He said, “The NOA will call for entries for the production of an authentic Nigerian melody, taking into consideration the indigenous instrumentation of the Nigerian people.

“The effective date for the entries and the procedure will be announced through NOA channels in the coming week.”

According to him, the new national anthem aligns with the nation’s ideology and has received much commendation from well-meaning Nigerians.

While clarifying line three of the anthem, he said, “We call the attention of Nigerians to line three of the first stanza, which reads: ‘Though tribes and tongues may differ.’ Note that the words ‘tribes’ and ‘tongues’ are plural.

“We also want you to note that line five of the first stanza reads: ‘Nigerians all, are proud to serve.’ The word ‘are,’ and not ‘and,’ is correct.”