NOA

Nigerians have been urged to ensure they seek formal permission before using the National Anthem in order to avoid any form of misuse or misinterpretation.

This call was made to Nigerians by the Director General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Lanre Issa-Onilu, on Wednesday, October 9.

Issa-Onilu in a statement emphasised the importance of obtaining permission from the NOA before the anthem or its lyrics are used.

“As custodians of Nigeria’s national symbols, the NOA is tasked with preventing all forms of misuse. Permission must be sought from the agency to avoid misrepresentation,” the DG said.

According to him, the agency would be embarking on a sensitisation campaign across Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT to provide the people with some clarity on the agency’s new policies and guidelines.

The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has issued a directive to all its Community Orientation and Mobilisation Officers in the 774 local governments to commit the newly signed National Anthem to memory before Monday, June 3, 2024.

Director-General of the NOA Lanre Issa-Onilu, in a statement issued to newsmen in Abuja, said the directive was part of the Agency’s efforts to ensure a seamless transition to the new National Anthem which is part of the national identity project being pursued to promote national cohesion, unity and a sense of patriotism.

Issa-Onilu noted that 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 reiterated that the NOA is 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,” he said.

He furthermore recalled that President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday assented to the bill that reverted Nigerians to the use of ‘Nigeria we hail thee,’ its former national anthem.

The NOA DG in the circular urged all Community Officers to take this directive seriously and to make every effort to learn the new National Anthem by the specified deadline “as you would be the grassroots marshals for the implementation of this new policy of government.”

He added that 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.