Image credit: zikoko

Victor Siyanbola 

In my neighbourhood, there is a government-owned primary school. This school, by estimation, has not less than 200 students who believe that education is not a scam, hence hawking on the street is a destroyer of destinies. Despite their large population, they have learnt endurance at an early age. How? There are only five classrooms and few chairs for them to sit on. These young ones pay little or no attention to this. They are rest assured that they will become leaders of tomorrow as long as they study with all gravitas.

Just yesterday, the staff and students of this exuded their patriotism to their fatherland. As early as 7:00am, my neighbours and II are livened by the sound produced by their Public Address System that lacks an echo less system. “Good morning, future leaders,” as their first statement, always made me cringe every morning when I recollect memories of my primary school days, my baggy shirt, my baggy pair of trousers and my white–turned–brown socks every afternoon. I remember I used to be one corpulent little boy, but thanks to the Nigerian economy now, I’m no better than a deflated bicycle tire. At least, I know what my bones look like.

A teacher, having addressed the students yesterday morning, asked if there was anyone who could recite the new national anthem for two sachets of Tom Tom. The conclusion drawn eventually was that none of them knew it. If not, those sachets of Tom Tom was an opportunity for some of them to chow breakfast. In the bid of patriotism, the teacher started with her cracky voice, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee! Our own dear native land.” No sooner had the teacher started the anthem than the students burst into a grouse – the same muttered by millions of Nigerians now. At that moment, I knew it was time I continued with my house chores.

Recall that President Bola Tinubu’s administration commenced on May 29, 2023. Ever since then, the dispiriting stories on the lips of every Nigerian had a tone of pain, sorrow and frustration. Some people even believe that the failed government of the erstwhile President was better. Haba! The astronomical increase in prices of Premium Motor Spirit, food items, wears, education and so on had left several Nigerians in despair despite being ruled under the agenda of “Renewed Hope.” In the Yoruba tradition, when a bat is seen in the afternoon, it connotes that danger is looming. Little wonder, Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) has heralded the calamity besieging us. Two months after inauguration, PBAT asserted that his government removed fuel subsidies because the Country cannot maintain it. According to them, trillions of naira saved will be used to better the healthcare and transportation sector, schools, housing, and national security, among others. Of course, this resonates well with our one-year-old whirlwind as prices have experienced a geometric upsurge and life has become so unbearable for an average Nigeria. Cost of living wan take the life of the living. 

You will agree that this was what PBAT meant when he said “bala blu” in a coded form. In the bid to proffer solution and materialise the 8-point Renewed Hope agenda that entails economic reform for sustained growth, strengthening national security, boosting agriculture for food security, unlocking energy and national resources, enhancing investment, economic reforms for sustained growth and improving government, changing the national anthem seems to be the fastest and quickest route. On Wednesday, May 29, 2024, President Bola Tinubu-led administration reintroduced the old anthem, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee,” after it had been changed in 1978, having sung it for 19 years. This latest development earned highbrows from the starving citizenry of Nigeria, begging the question: “How will the new anthem put food on our tables?” Well, that’s a secret only known by the National Assembly. The existent complaints bemoaned by the majority, including those who collected a Congo of rice each during campaign, is that the present administration is best qualified with the phrase “misplaced priority.”

Surprisingly, it took less than a week for a bill in Nigeria to be passed into law. Unlike several weeks that are used to pass important bills into laws, the National Anthem bill 2024 is said to have passed first and second readings in about 48 hours. This government is definitely blessed with an unusual speed. Our pot-bellied 109 Senators and 360 House members believe that the anthem has a deep connection with the history, culture, values and ancestry of Nigeria, as well as our future – one that cannot be imagined.

Does this in any way heal our collective wound? No doubt, the country reached an impasse as a corollary of the rapacious individuals who parade themselves as leaders, flexing in luxurious jeeps. They are the root cause of our ordeals in Nigeria. We vote them into power, yes,but their lack of accountability to the masses has posed a heart-wrenching threat to our existence. All they care about is how to amass wealth, spray hard currencies during ceremonies, and send their wards to foreign Universities with funds meant to be in government coffers. Well, I must appreciate the present administration for their efforts; it seems as though these people have learnt more enticing strategies to win us over. The Aso Rock keeps budgeting huge sums of money for bullet-proof vehicles, burying our hopes in sinking sand. Does light beam at the end of this tunnel? When will this whirlwind halt its waging?

The irony that looms is, “Nigeria We Hail Thee” was composed in 1959 by a Briton, Lillian Jean William. History records that a national conference organised by the Goodluck Jonathan-led administration in 2014 posited that the national flag and name should be changed, it seems this is the most suitable time for it to become a fruition. This is our time of renewed hope! This is the time for a better Nigeria! The time is now!

Music enthusiasts will agree that the lyrics of “, Nigeria, We Hail Thee” connect us with our national consciousness, instilling a zest for loyalty and unionism. Beyond this, we should not bypass the truism that the composer was a British expatriate. Did she feel the sting of our heroes’ past whose labours now seem to be in vain?

This recent development has assayed, most times, we lay emphasis on misplaced priorities in Nigeria. Instead of revamping the existent massive underdevelopment, infrastructure deficit and vacillating economy of the Country, the National Assembly placed priority on changing the National Anthem, as infinitesimal as that is! Ẹ patẹwọ fun Tinubu. In just one year of governance, it has been reported that headline inflation deteriorated by 11.28 percent. It was 22.41 per cent when President Bola Tinubu took office, and it is now 33.69 percent. In the same vein, the exchange rate doubled in a year. It was ₦765 to a dollar as at last year but it’s pegged at ₦1,520 now. What shall we say then?

O compatriots, if only singing “, Nigeria, We Hail Thee/Our own dear native land” with “strength and love and faith” can grant us “freedom, peace and unity” I urge us to do with all our might. This shortcut to a better economy has been discovered by our cartographic leaders and going through another route will cause a fatal accident. Day by day, Nigerians are growing in the spirit of endurance.