The National Orientation Agency (NOA) says the official version of the national anthem it issued remains the correct lyrics.

On May 29, President Bola Tinubu signed the national anthem bill 2024 that reintroduced the old anthem, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee,”  into law.

Subsequently, the NOA released the standardised lyrics of the reintroduced national anthem.

However, on Tuesday, Senate President Godswill Akpabio reportedly said what the agency is circulating is different from the new national anthem approved by the upper legislative chamber.

“Take note of what we have here; what we have is different from what the NOA has,” Akpabio was quoted as saying.

“Where we have Nigerians ‘all’ are proud to say, they have Nigerians all and proud to say. Also, where we have ‘though’ tribe and tongue may differ, they have ‘though tribes and tongues.

“Also, at the end, where we have ‘Nigeria shall be blessed’, they have Nigeria ‘may’ be blessed. We are using ‘shall’ which is a compulsion that this country shall be blessed. So tell the National Orientation Agency to drop what they are circulating now.”

But in a statement, Lanre Issa-Onilu, the director general of NOA, said the official version of the national anthem the agency unveiled remains the correct lyrics approved in the Act signed by the president on May 29.

“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,” the statement issued by Paul Odenyi, spokesperson of the agency, reads.

“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.

“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.”

[TheCable]