Confusion broke out during a Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and members of his cabinet were seen singing the old national anthem during the opening ceremony.
The moment came after the old anthem was played at the meeting, with President Tinubu and his ministers joining in.
The old anthem begins with the words, “Arise O’ Compatriots,” while the reintroduced national anthem starts with, “Nigeria, we hail thee.”
As of the time of filing this report, it is still unclear why the President and members of the Federal Executive Council sang the old anthem instead of the officially reintroduced version.
The incident has drawn attention because the Tinubu administration signed a law in 2024 restoring “Nigeria, We Hail Thee” as Nigeria’s national anthem, replacing “Arise, O Compatriots,” which had been used for several decades.
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