‘Wake up, Romanians, from your deadly I
slumber in which barbaric tyrants kept you so long by force.
Now or never is the time for you to have a new fate.
Which should command respect even of your cruel enemies”.
(The Romanian NationalAnthem)
THE Essayist and Historiographer Jenny Jules once said “A man should have something to vouch for, die for and defend to his last drop of blood and that thing must be his country”. But how many Nigerians are prepared to die for Nigeria? Virtually a vast majority of Nigerians think in terms of what they can get out of Nigeria and not what they can give to Nigeria. The Nigerian Nation is an orphan with none so altruistic to give it reverence.
In trying to forestall the vortexes of antipathy and loathsome repugnance against society, clubs, communities, nations and even individuals devised the “Anthem”. An anthem is a call to order. It is a patriotic evocation that heightens the elan and nationalistic bravura of any people. It is a canticle of canticles, a hymn, a chorale and a eulogy that quickens the verve and commitment of any people. It accentuates the feeling of active camaraderie and gives impetus to tactical and liturgical order. It is a salmagundi for heightening the principles of espirit de corp.
Our National Anthem has been hounded and hectored by a people whose perverted moral energies and unpatriotic manic characteristics border on the unthinkable. It has attained the degeneracy of a metaphysical commandment, the gloom of an apocalyptic confrontation and the profundity of a threnody. Our National anthem is no more. And a people without ‘A CALL TO ORDER’ have no identity. Nigerians treat their National anthem with wicked frivolity. They sing it during ceremonial occasions without imbibing the spirit. And they sing it in the National Stadium to ginger their solipsistic appetite for a good game. What a shame!
Nigerians thought that the fault was in the writer of our first anthem — Lord Lugard’s wife. They went on to compose and write a new National anthem (Mr. Ediase), but to no avail. Nigerians still remain as unpatriotic as ever. Our first anthem had all the trappings of a clarion call to unity, j and love. It states in verse one that “Nigeria we hail thee our own dear Native land, though tribe and tongue may differ, in brotherhood we stand’ The second National anthem addresses the same issue of patriotism, love, faith and unity”.
It states in verse one Arise 0’ compatriots, Nigeria’s call obey, to serve our fatherland with love and strength and faith. The labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain. To serve with heart and might one Nation bound in freedom, peace and unity’
The wordings of our National anthem are evocative, didactic and moving. In verse two it states, “Oh God of creation, direct our noble cause: Guide our leader’s right; Help our youth the truth to know. In love and honesty to grow; and living just and true, great lofty heights attain, to build a Nation where peace and justice shall reign “. But the conduct of our leadership, the youths and elders point to a cantankerously different posturing. That is why Nigeria remains the most corrupt country on earth and we shall continue to stew in the labyrinth of underdevelopment unless we learn to imbibe the admonitions that are explicitly articulated in our National anthem and our National pledge.
It is a pity and a shame beyond all telling, that when the National anthem is being played in the National Assembly, State Assemblies. Stadiums, Social Gatherings and political occasions, you will see Nigerians loitering and some locked in empty guffaws. This is because they have not imbibed the spirit of the great call to order. How can a Nation and it’s people move forward when they have no iota of love and commitment to their fatherland. The spirit of the National Flag, the National Anthem and the National Pledge are treated with eschatological ignominy.
In Wole Soyinka’s play “The Bacchae of Euripides” he stressed the sacredness and inviolacy of the anthem or hymn to the growth of any collectivity. He said “Fall back a little. Seal up the streets and let no one intrude; There is a hymn all believers know. Let every mouth be silent. Let no ill-omened words profane your ton gues It is the hour we have long waited. What is hidden must someday come to light. Now, raise with me the old, old hymn to the godhead.” The National anthem could lead to the tranquilization of belligerency when properly used. It could also raise revolutionary verve. It is a pot pourri for national transmutation.
Hitler of Germany, Mussolini of Italy, Stalin of the Old Soviet Union etc used their National anthems as weapons of mass mobilization. A call to lift up the laudably lofty ideals of Nationalism. In his mission to exterminate Marxism in Germany, Hitler continuously harped on the German anthem. When it was not being put to use Hitler thundered in his book The Legal Resolution that “someday the judgement of history will no.’ spare us a reproach because in a historic hour, ourselves perhaps, already sickled o’er by the weakness and cowardice of our bourgeois world, we proceeded with kid gloves instead of with an iron fist.”
The beauty of the lyrics, the soundness of the rhythmic configuration and the melodic methodology of the National anthem are brought to the picturesque fore when given a classical rendition. Americans are always filled with rhapsodic ecstasy when their National anthem is being played. It states thus “And tile rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air; gave proof through the night that our flag was still there O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave, O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” What a sense of national pride.
Most National anthems touch on the history and things that will stimulate patriotic zest in the listener. In the anthem of the Netherlands it states “William of Nassau am I, of Germanic descent/True to the fatherland I remain until death/Prince of Orange am I, free and fearless/To the king of Spain have always given honour”. The Colombian anthem talks of hope. It states “Oh immortal joy in furrows of pain? God is germinating.”
The anthem of England runs thus in the second verse ‘O Lord our God arise/scatter her enemies/and make them fall/confound their politics/frustrate their knavish tricks/on thee our hopes we fix/God save us all.” The Romanian anthem is a great call to duty. It runs thus ‘Wake up, Romanians, from your deadly s/umber in which barbaric tyrants kept you so long by force. Now or never is the time for you to have a new fate. Which should command respect even of your cruel enemies’
The German anthem talks about patriotic commitment to the fatherland. It states, “Bloom in splendor of this happiness/Bloom, my German fatherland”. The anthem of Scotland glorifies its freedom. It states “0 flower of Scotland when will we see your like again? That fought and died for your wee bit hill and glen. And stood against him/proud Edwards army and sent him homeward/Tae thing again “. The Brazilian anthem is sheer beautiful poetry. It states “The image of the Southern Cross shines resplendent. A giant by nature, you are beautiful/strong, an intrepid colossus. And your future mirrors this grandeur”.
The anthem of any nation must be expressive of the political panache, the patriotic fixations and the zeitgeist its people. But this is not so in our country Nigeria. What is the way forward? The leadership must through its conduct and programmes rekindle hope in our dear native land. Nobody can be patriotic on an empty stomach. Let the leadership provide the corporeal needs of the people — good houses, transportation, food, employment, medical services, education, etc. as we cross 53 years of independence let us begin to do a reorientation.
Let the nuts and bolts of the pledge and the National anthem be taught as part of general papers or Civic Studies n our tertiary institutions. It should actually commence from the kindergarten through primary, secondary to the university levels. We should not just sing but also imbibe the spirit and message of the National anthem. A situation where a Nigerian university lecturer, a university graduate and legislators cannot sing the National anthem, smacks of a finished nation.
Our Legislators rigmarole and perambulate when the National anthem is being played in the House. Let every legislator pass through a National pledge and national anthem test. They should show good examples for the electorates to follow. Every Nigerian must sing the National anthem before being given his tax clearance certificate, driver’s license, joined in marriage or wedlock and before been given government contracts.
Let the singing of the National anthem and the recitation of the National pledge be made compulsory in all churches in Nigeria. An institution where Nigerians read and quote from the Bible, the Korean, the Talmud, etc with cerebral phosphorescence, but cannot sing our national anthem is a monumental desecration of our Nationhood. It mutantly breaches the principles of imitatio dei non imitatiohominis because the holy writ says “Give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.” Nigerians are spiritual vigilantes as they stay all night praying. They gallivant from Ibadan, Badagry express way through Calabar, Elele, Imeko to Jerusalem, Mecca, etc. But they will never raise a finger for the growth and development of the Nigerian nation and their fellow man.
The remonstrations and cry of anguish inherent in the National anthem of France is most touching. It states:
“Against us the blood-stained banner of tyranny is raised/The banner of tyranny is come right into our arms/to slaughter our sons and our consorts”. This is a direct protestation against all forms of oppression. The Italian anthem talks about national pride. It states that “Italy has awakened; she has wreathed her head with the helmet of SCIPIO”. The Cameroonian anthem says: “You are the tomb where our fathers are resting; you are the garden they prepared and they conceived. We work that you may become fair and prosperous and one day at last we’ll see it all achieved.”
The National Youth Service Corp Scheme (NYSC) and a compulsory military service could be effectively fine- tuned to constitute the plinth for the enhancement of the principles of patriotism, national rebirth and consciousness in Nigeria. As presently practiced, the National Youth Service Scheme is a horrendous contraption and constitutes a hideous parasitic drain on our national treasury. Every line of the National anthem and the creed must be palpably imbibed by every graduating Corps member. But our elders and the larger society must show worthy examples to enable them ‘act out’ the anthem and creed. Phantasmagorical romanticization cannot build a nation. It can only come about through pragmatic patriotism.
Our National anthem and creed should not play the role of a second fiddle to any religious, political, social and cultural mantra. it should be almost idolized through systematic indoctrination. The disdainful, uncomplimentary and execrable denigration of our National anthem, National pledge and our National flag borders on criminality, it must be forestalled if Nigeria must move forward after 53years of the “barbers-chair” syndrome.
The Mexican anthem admonishes us on patriotism thus “but should a foreign enemy dare to profane your soil with his tread? Know beloved fatherland that heaven gave you a soldier in each of your sons”. The Saudi Arabian anthem tells us about national glory. It says “Hasten to glory and supremacy/Glorify the creator of the heavens/And raise the green flattering flag/Carrying the emblem of light”. Nigerians have a lot to learn from other countries of the world about patriotism and commitment to national courses. But let our leadership set the ball rolling.
Finally, let it he that in our great stride towards national development, we need men and women who can commit their body, soul and spirit to the Nigerian course. And one way we can raise our panache is by imbibing the spirit of our National anthem and pledge. We must all reaffirm our commitment to our fatherland, and pledge to serve Nigeria, our country, to be faithful, loyal and honest. To serve Nigeria with all our strength. To defend her unity and uphold her honour and glory. So help us God.
