By Aminu Gambo Adamu.
The National Orientation Agency NOA says the newly introduced National Anthem is sang wrongly by individuals, organisations and government agencies during public gatherings.
A statement by the Director General of NOA Malam Lanre Isa Onillu says people should only recite/sing the first stanza and not all three stanzas at official events.
The statement says the third stanza should be recited as the National Prayer at the beginning of an event, while the three entire stanzas should be recited/sang only during Independence Day, Inauguration, that is, swearing-in of a President, Armed Forces Remembrance Day, Democracy Day, and Inauguration of the National Assembly.
It states that the National Pledge on the other hand is to be recited at the end of an event.
According to the statement, the agency has also effected changes in the national anthem with the alphabet “s” added to the words tribe and tongue in the first stanza.
It notes that “Nigerians all are” is the correct phrase and not “Nigerians all and” in the first stanza, while “Nigeria may be blessed” and not “Nigeria shall be blessed” is the correct phrase to be used in the third stanza.
The statement therefore urges Nigerians to take note of all the corrections for the National Anthem to be properly recited/sing.
