By Abubakar Yunusa
The Director General of the Agency, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, says the agency will soon call for entries into the new national anthem production of an authentic Nigerian melody.
Issa-Onilu spoke on Wednesday in Abuja at the presentation of the official version of the new national anthem.
He said the event was organised to will clear all doubts about the anthem’s correct lyrics as contained in the Act signed by the President.
He said, “The NOA will call for entries for the production of an authentic Nigerian melody, taking into consideration the indigenous instrumentation of the Nigerian people.
“The effective date for the entries and the procedure will be announced through NOA channels in the coming week.”
According to him, the new national anthem is in line with the nation’s ideology and had received much commendation from well-meaning Nigerians.
While making some clarification on line three of the anthem, he said: “We call the attention of Nigerians to the line three (3) of the first stanza, which reads: Though tribes and tongues may differ. Note that the words ‘tribes’ and ‘tongues’ are in plural.
“We want you to also note that five (5) of the first stanza reads: ‘Nigerians all, are proud to serve.’ The word ‘are’ not ‘and’ is correct.”
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