A former minister of education, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, has rejected the new National Anthem, saying she will always stick to the old National Anthem of “Arise O Compatriots”.
In a post on her verified X account titled ‘Public Service Announcement’ on Wednesday, the former
Minister described the newly assented Bill, which returned Nigeria to its old National Anthem, as obnoxious and repugnant to all that is of good conscience in Nigeria.
The National Assembly hurriedly passed the National Anthem Bill 2024 into law last week. On Wednesday, Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced that President Bola Tinubu had subsequently signed the Bill into law.
This is even as the attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), a few days ago expressed his objection to the hasty passage of the Bill by the National Assembly without the buy-in of Nigerians through a public hearing.
However, reacting to the development, the former minister-turned-activist wrote: “Let it be known to all and sundry that I, Obiageli ‘Oby’ Ezekwesili, shall whenever asked to sing the Nigerian National Anthem will go for ‘Arise O Compatriots.”
