Old national anthem: Keyamo gives Dickson 48 hours to clarify NDC’s position

详细摘要

Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo has given NDC leader Seriake Dickson 48 hours to clarify the party’s position on Nigeria’s old national anthem. Read More:…

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has given the National Leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Senator Seriake Dickson, 48 hours to clarify whether the party endorses Nigeria’s former national anthem.

Keyamo made the demand in a post on his X handle on Saturday, describing the national anthem as one of the country’s symbols representing its history, values and sovereignty.

He argued that singing an anthem different from the one prescribed by law could lay the foundation for secession, warning that a group’s endorsement of such an action through its leader would make it a secessionist movement.

“A national anthem is one of a country’s national symbols. It represents a country’s history, values and sovereignty. It is meant to unite citizens,” he wrote.

The minister added, “When a group of people decide to defy it and sing something different from what others are singing as prescribed by law, that group is preparing grounds to break away from the country. It is one of the ingredients of secession.

“And once the leader of such a group endorses the action, it means the group is then officially a secessionist movement.”

Keyamo consequently challenged Dickson, whom he described as his former classmate and friend, to clarify the party’s position within 48 hours.

“I am therefore officially calling on the original ‘Countryman’, my classmate, my friend and a man of considerable courage from our school days, Senator Seriake Dickson, the official leader of the NDC, to within 48 hours speak up as to whether the NDC officially endorses a proscribed anthem as its own national symbol. The world is waiting,” he said.

The minister’s comments followed an incident at an NDC town hall meeting in the Oregun area of Lagos State on Thursday, where some attendees sang the former national anthem, “Arise, O Compatriots”, instead of the current anthem, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee”.

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