Keyamo issues 48-hour ultimatum to Dickson over NDC’s use of old national anthem

Abdullateef Fowewe

Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo has given Senator Seriake Dickson, national leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), 48 hours to clarify whether the party officially endorses Nigeria’s former national anthem as its own national symbol.

In a post on X on Saturday, Keyamo described the national anthem as a core symbol of the country’s history, values and sovereignty that is meant to unite citizens.

He argued that deliberately singing a different anthem amounts to defiance of the law and lays the groundwork for secession.

“When a group of people decide to defy it and sing something different from what others are singing as prescribed by law, that group is preparing grounds to break away from the country. It is one of the ingredients of SECESSION,” Keyamo wrote.

“And once the leader of such a group endorses the action, it means the group is then OFFICIALLY a secessionist movement.”

He specifically called on Dickson, referring to him as his former classmate, friend and “the original ‘COUNTRYMAN’,” to speak up.

“I AM THEREFORE OFFICIALLY CALLING ON … SENATOR SERIAKE DICKSON, the official leader of the NDC, to within 48 hours SPEAK UP as to whether the NDC officially endorses a proscribed anthem as its own NATIONAL SYMBOL. The world is waiting.”

The demand follows an incident at an NDC town hall meeting in the Oregun area of Lagos on Thursday.

Attendees, including the party’s presidential candidate Peter Obi, were reported to have sung the former national anthem, “Arise, O Compatriots,” instead of the current official anthem, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee.”

Nigeria restored “Nigeria, We Hail Thee”, the independence-era anthem used from 1960 to 1978 as the official national anthem through legislation in 2024, replacing “Arise, O Compatriots.”

The change was presented as a return to the country’s original national symbol.