By Ayobami Okerinde
The Lagos State governorship candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Funso Doherty, has said the singing of Nigeria’s former national anthem at the party’s town hall meeting in Lagos was a spontaneous reaction by attendees.
Doherty, who spoke on Nigeria Info 99.3FM on Friday, said the current national anthem was also sung after the crowd had recited the former version.
He explained that the event organisers could not control the spontaneous reaction of a large gathering, particularly given the emotional atmosphere surrounding the meeting.
“Well, the point to be made is that if you watched that show, you will see that the new national anthem was actually sung after that initial singing of the old national anthem, and what happened was it was a spontaneous thing by the crowd,” he said.
He added that the official anthem was eventually performed, insisting that Nigeria had only one national anthem.
“Obviously, the national anthem is the national anthem. We only have one national anthem, and ultimately that was what we sang,” he said.
Doherty’s explanation followed Thursday’s incident at the NDC town hall meeting in Lagos, where the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and other attendees declined to stand when invited to sing the current national anthem.
The event anchor subsequently switched to the former anthem, “Arise, O Compatriots”, which Obi, Doherty and other supporters sang.
The incident has attracted criticism from Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and Nigeria’s Ambassador to Mexico, Reno Omokri.
Wike, who spoke at a stakeholders’ town hall in Ogu-Bolo Local Government Area of Rivers State on Friday, accused Obi of disrespecting Nigeria’s national symbols.
He said Obi’s decision not to stand for the current anthem, but to join in singing the former version, raised questions about his commitment to the country.
“A whole national anthem of a country is being sung. A man who wants to be President of Nigeria would disobey and sit down. And then not only that, when a different national anthem that is not being used for Nigeria was sung, he stood up,” Wike said.
He added that anyone who disrespected the national anthem should not aspire to lead the country.
“A man who does not believe in Nigeria, someone who derives joy in ridiculing the country by disrespecting its symbolic National Anthem must not be allowed to come near the presidency of our country,” he said.
Similarly, Omokri criticised Obi and NDC supporters, describing the Constitution, national anthem and national football team as apolitical symbols that unite Nigerians.
In a statement on Friday, he cited Section 24(a) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, which requires citizens to respect the Constitution, its ideals and institutions, national symbols and legitimate authorities.
“The Constitution, National Anthem and the National Football Team are three apolitical symbols that unite all Nigerians,” Omokri said.
He questioned what Nigerians should expect from political leaders who openly disregarded the country’s national symbols.
“If you won’t respect your country’s Constitution. If you won’t respect your homeland’s National Football Team. If you won’t respect your nation’s National Anthem. How do you expect 235 million Nigerians to entrust you with their fate?” he asked.
President Bola Tinubu signed the National Anthem Bill into law on May 29, 2024, restoring “Nigeria, We Hail Thee”, which was first adopted at independence in 1960, as the country’s official anthem. It replaced “Arise, O Compatriots”, which had been in use since 1978.
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