The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has insisted that its version of the new national anthem released last week was the correct one.

The Director-General of NOA, Lanre Issa-Onilu, said this in a statement issued on Tuesday by the agency’s Deputy Director of Press, Paul Odenyi.

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Mr Issa-Onilu was responding to an observation made by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, on the national anthem during Tuesday’s plenary.

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Mr Akpabio, during the plenary, identified errors in lines three, five, and 18 of the national anthem released by the NOA..

“Where you have, ‘Nigerians all, are proud to serve’, they said ‘Nigerians all, and proud to serve’, that is number one, it should be ‘are’.

“And then it said ‘though tribes and tongues may differ’, they said, ‘though tribe and tongue, I hope you understand and at the end where we said ‘Nigeria shall be blessed’, they did not say so. They said ‘Nigeria may be blessed’.

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“We are using the word shall, which is compulsion, that this country shall be blessed. So, tell the National Orientation Agency to drop what they are circulating now. Congratulations to all of us” Mr Akpabio said.

PRESS RELEASE

NATIONAL ANTHEM: NOA RELEASED OFFICIAL VERSION
-Senate President Misquoted

The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has explained that the official version of the National Anthem it unveiled remains the correct lyrics approved in the act signed by President Bola Tinubu on May 29, 2024.

The Director General of the Agency, Mallam Issa-Onilu, clarified inquiries from the media on the correct lyrics of the new national anthem, saying as an act of the Parliament, the NOA is duty-bound to only promote the official version.

Believing that the Senate President was misquoted, Mallam Issa-Onilu advised the media to always cross-check their facts before publication.

He also advised the media to check the Act signed by the President as approved by the National Assembly to confirm the version as released by the NOA.

In his words,” The official version that we issued remains the correct lyrics. We are making an effort to standardise the instrumental and audio versions before we release it to the public.”

The NOA had last week released the official version of the National anthem to guide citizens who might be unsure of the correct lyrics of the reintroduced old National Anthem.

Paul Odenyi
Deputy Director, Press.