Nigeria’s national symbols are sitting on a powder keg: Lessons from Kenya

Author: Oluwatosin Senami Adegun
LLM candidate, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria

At independence in October 1960, Nigeria adopted ‘Nigeria, we hail thee’ as its national anthem replacing the colonial ‘God save the Queen’, however, the fact that the lyrics and the music of the 1960 anthem were composed by British nationals, Lillian Jean Williams and music by Miss Rances Benda respectively raised questions about the ‘independence’ of the 1960 anthem resulting in controversy over the genuineness or otherwise of the lyrics and other issues. Nevertheless, Nigeria used the anthem from October 1960 to 1978 when it was changed to ‘Arise O Compatriots’ during the military administration of Olusegun Obasanjo. Unlike the 1960 anthem, the lyrics of the 1978 anthem was composed by five Nigerians namely, John Anagboso Ilechukwu, Eme Etim Akpan, Babatunde Ogunnaike, Sota Omoigui and Philips Olusegun Aderibigbe, while its music was composed by Benedict Odiase during his service in the Nigeria Police Force.

After using the 1978 anthem for 46 years, the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) reverted to the 1960 anthem on 29 May 2024 through the enactment of the National Anthem Act of 2024 on the justification that the 1960 anthem will promote brotherhood in Nigeria, among other reasons. It is important to note that before the National Assembly passed the National Anthem Bill, it held a public hearing not for the general public as the name suggests, but for a selected few, including the Attorney General of the Federation who advised the legislators to subject the Bill to wider public consideration before its passage. This advice was rejected by the lawmakers.

It is a known fact that a country’s national anthem forms part of its national symbols (including the national flag, the coat of arms and the national pledge), and an integral part of its identity, and should ideally be included in its Constitution to prevent modification by selected or elected few through ordinary legislative process. Thus, the recent sudden change of Nigeria’s anthem brought to the fore the fact that none of Nigeria’s national symbols is engrafted in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999 (Constitution), and are consequently susceptible to arbitrary modification at any time without the people’s involvement, – a situation which is not ideal for a country like Nigeria with its diversity and democratic challenges.

Sadly, the only reference to Nigeria’s national symbols in the Constitution is its Section 24(a) which provides for the duty of every citizen to respect the national symbols. In fact, the national symbols are not listed as part of the items within the exclusive legislative competence of the National Assembly in Part I of the Second Schedule to the Constitution. The only legislation that contains provision on Nigeria’s national symbols is the National Flag and Coat of Arms Act of 1960,  the existence of which is preserved by Section 315(1) of the Constitution, and subject to modification through the ordinary legislative process. There are no existing laws by virtue of which the national pledge and the 1978 anthem are governed, which may be the result of the fact that the 1978 anthem was adopted during a military regime where there is no clear-cut distinction between the executive and legislative functions in some instances. The non-inclusion of these symbols in Nigeria’s Constitution aside from section 24(a), which imposes an obligation on citizens to respect the national flag, anthem and pledge, means these symbols can be changed at any time by selected or elected few without public consultation as recent events have shown.

In addition, the National Flag and Coat of Arms Act of 1960 merely prescribes the use of the national flag and the Coat of Arms, but does not provide  specifications as to the elements like colour, dimensions and other characteristics of the national flag and the Coat of Arms. This gap in the law is worrisome.

In Kenya on the other hand, Article 9 and the Second Schedule to the 2010 Constitution of Kenya  provides for Kenyan national flag, the national anthem, the coat of arms and the public seal with their elements, dimensions and contents clearly spelt out. The implication of including the Kenyan national symbols in the Kenyan Constitution is that, by Article 256 of the Kenyan Constitution, when Parliament introduces a bill to modify any of the national symbols, not less than two-thirds votes of members of each House of Parliament is required after the publication and public discussion of such bill before it can be sent to the President for assent. Thus, in Kenya it would be impossible for Parliament to arbitrarily change the national anthem or any of its national symbols without public participation.

National symbols are emblems of a country’s identity, history and fundamental values which should not be subject to change by a few. Consequently, to prevent further arbitrary modification of Nigeria’s national symbols that is, the national anthem, national flag, the Coat of Arms and the national pledge, it is important that the people demand a constitutional amendment to include the specific elements like colour, dimensions and content of these symbols in the Constitution as prevails in Kenyan Constitution.

In addition, for the national flag and the Coat of Arms, the National Flag and Coat of Arms Act of 1960 should be amended to contain detailed elements and dimensions of these symbols, after which the amended Act should  be included in the ‘special’ existing laws under Section 315(5) of the Constitution with the implication that the amended Act forms part of the Constitution and can only be amended through a constitutional amendment process under Section 9(2) of the Constitution which provides that such constitutional amendment needs the support of not less than two-thirds majority of members of either House of the National Assembly, and a resolution of not less than two-thirds of all the Houses of Assembly in the 36 states of the federation, rather than by ordinary legislative process which is quite simplistic for a fundamental matter like the national symbols.

With the gap in the existing legislative framework on Nigeria’s national symbols, it is evident that Nigeria’s national symbols are at the whim of the few political class and susceptible to change at any time against the will of the majority, a status quo the people should reject and demand be changed.   

About the Author:

Oluwatosin Senami Adegun is a Nigerian legal practitioner and the Director of ISH-61 Human Rights & Social Justice Initiative through which she litigates human rights cases at the national, sub-regional and regional levels. She is currently a student in the Master’s programme in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria.