The old-new national anthem would be able to have prevented banditry, insecurity in Nigeria – Akpabio

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has suggested that the old, now new national anthem of Nigeria, could have prevented issues of banditry and insecurity in Nigeria.

The Senate President stated that if the nation had kept the old anthem, it would teach its citizens to be patriotic, meaning the crime rate would have reduced on a significant level.

According to Akpabio, the anthem would have made one take his or her neighbour as a brother.

As many people are labeling the re-introduction of the anthem as an element of colonialism, Akpabio is of the opinion that those set of individuals do not understand Nigeria’s history because a panel made up of Nigerians was set up in 1959, which received inputs from all over the world regarding the anthem.

TopNaija reports the Senate President made the submissions on Tuesday during his visit to the Nigeria Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies in Abuja.

He said: “The other impactful bill signed by the National Assembly is the reverting to our old national anthem.

“A lot of people are not aware that there was a panel set up and made up of Nigerians to receive input from all over the world in 1959.

“So when people are saying we’re bringing in colonial anthem, they need to look into the history of “Nigeria, we hail thee”.”

“If we had kept to that anthem, we probably would not have banditry today in Nigeria because if you take your neighbour as your brother, you will not want to kill him.”

Recall that both the House of Representatives and the Senate speedily passed a bill to return to the old national anthem, “Nigeria, we hail thee”, that was abolished in 1978.

Following the National Assembly’s approval, President Bola Tinubu also signed the law in May, effectively transforming the old anthem into the new one for the nation.