National Anthem: Call for a return to true federalism
President Bola Tinubu
AS envisaged, the reintroduction of the old national anthem –‘Nigeria, We Hail Thee’–, 46 years after it was dropped for ‘Arise O Compatriots’ by the Bola Tinubu administration on Wednesday, has elicited mixed feelings across the polity.
While it has revamped nostalgia amongst some in the older generation, others have dismissed it as mere shadow chasing and a distraction from the many woes plaguing Nigerians. Most citizens are facing hardship because of the policies implemented by the administration, including petrol subsidy removal.
They argue that the government is deficient in assigning priorities and playing to the gallery. The question being asked rhetorically in many quarters is: How does this affect the price of food?
The National Anthem Bill 2024 passed through accelerated hearing in both chambers of the National Assembly, despite prodding by the Attorney-General of the Federation that lawmakers engage in wider consultations. The rationale in parliament was that the old anthem represented the country’s people, culture, values, and aspirations.
One proponent argued that the bill is in tandem with the “spirit of unity and will inspire a zeal for patriotism and cooperation” and promote cultural heritage. Tinubu expressed similar sentiments in assenting to the bill on May 29.
The irony is that the reintroduced anthem’s lyrics were written in 1959 by Lillian Williams, a British woman resident in Nigeria. Another foreigner, Ms Berda, composed the score. So much for cultural heritage and values.
However, the advocacy for the old anthem is not new. The National Conference organised by the Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2014 recommended this. It was argued then that the national flag and the name Nigeria should be changed to cut ties with its colonial past.
The return to the old national anthem indicates that all is not well with Nigeria and there is some yearning for a return to the good old days.
Nigeria operated a true federal structure at independence with the regions and the Lagos territory enjoying a great deal of autonomy till the coup of 1966. This was in line with the principles agreed at the Constitutional Conference in 1957 at London and the 1958 Conference, which triggered the enactment of the 1960 Independence and 1963 Republican constitutions.
The regions had their parliaments, police, and diplomatic representatives and controlled their natural resources under a regime of true fiscal federalism that encouraged competition. Regions retained 50 per cent of resource revenues, 30 per cent went to the distributable pool while only 20 per cent went to the Federal Government.
Local governments ran primary schools that functioned. Agriculture flourished with cocoa, oil palm, and groundnuts accounting for huge revenues that funded social programmes and infrastructure.
In 1966, the Nigerian federation had a budget surplus of £18 million. Since 1978, despite huge oil revenues, the country has drifted amid power struggles between the politicians and the military for control of oil revenues at the centre, resulting in massive underdevelopment, infrastructure deficit, and an underproductive rentier economy.
All the gains of the early years have been lost, and high hopes dashed with Nigerians much more polarised, pauperised, and insecure. People are being kidnapped from farms, schools, roads, and homes in a country where citizens once left their doors open.
The country’s food basket in the Middle Belt is an active war zone. “Peace and plenty” have long departed Nigeria.
Therefore, returning to the old national anthem should go beyond cosmetics. It should signpost a return to all that was good with Nigeria when people lived without fear; when corruption was not a national culture, and leaders were accountable.
Nigeria needs a return to a functional federal structure that will uphold the fundamental principles of fiscal federalism or resource control, state police, and control of local governments by states.
