A week after the House of Representatives passed a bill to dump the current national anthem for the old one, the Senate similarly passed the bill.
With the passage, the bill now awaits the assent of President Bola Ahmad Tinubu to become a law.
The old anthem, ‘Nigeria, We Hail Thee’ composed when Nigeria gained independence on October 1, 1960, was replaced with the ‘Arise O’ Compatriots’ version in 1978.
The bill sponsored by the Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, enjoyed overwhelming support from the lawmakers at the Tuesday plenary.
The lawmakers in supporting the bill, argued that it would promote better symbol for unity, peace and prosperity, compared to the current one. Emerging from a close-door session to debate on the bill, the senators noted that the current national anthem was a product of the military junta, decreed by the military and should, therefore, give way to the independence anthem, which captures national values, ethics and norms
