The Director General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, has urged Nigerians to quickly learn and acquaint themselves with the reversed national anthem of the country.
Alhaji Abdulganiyu Dare, Kogi State Director of NOA, gave the advice while speaking on the reversed national anthem on Thursday in Lokoja.
Dare said that the director general of NOA had directed every Nigerian to immediately learn the new anthem.
The News Agency of Nigerian (NAN) reports that President Bola Tinubu had on Wednesday, May 29, assented to the National Anthem Bill 2024, reverting to the old national anthem, “Nigeria, we hail thee”.
Dare told NAN that the DG had issued a directive to all Community Orientation and Mobilization Officers in the 774 local governments to commit the newly signed National Anthem to memory as soon as possible.
“This directive, given by the Director General, Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, is part of the Agency’s efforts to ensure a seamless transition to the new National Anthem.
“It is part of the national identity project being pursued to promote national cohesion, unity and a sense of patriotism.
“The Community Orientation and Mobilisation Officers (COMOS) are the Agency’s lead Officers in the local governments, whose roles are primarily to enlighten citizens at the grassroots level of government policies, programmes, and activities,” he said.
He added that NOA was also working closely with the National Union of Teachers (NUT) to ensure that schools across the country are mobilised to start using the current National Anthem.
“We are excited to embark on this new chapter in our national history.
“We believe that this new National Anthem will inspire a sense of pride and unity among Nigerians, and we are committed to ensuring that every citizen has access to it.
“NOA as the custodian of the nation’s symbols has the mandate to promote and preserve the integrity of all national icons including the national anthem,” Dare quoted the NOA DG as saying.
Dare, therefore, called on all public servants, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Schools and the entire citizens of Kogi and the country at large to adopt the new national anthem.
