May 26, (THEWILL)- Nigerians were stunned on Thursday by the news that our lawmakers had rushed to pass a bill reverting the nation’s anthem to an older version. This hasty move is rendered even more bewildering when one considers the myriad of pressing issues that directly impact millions of citizens – issues that could have been given priority on the legislative agenda, unlike the symbolic matter of anthem lyrics.
I really wanted to title this piece, “National Anthem Not Our Problem, Our Leaders Are.” However, I cannot justifiably refer to our politicians as leaders, for true leadership requires vision, integrity, selflessness and a commitment to serving the people’s interests. Leaders uplift and inspire. Leaders provide direction during turbulent times. Leaders put the needs of the masses first. True leadership demands foresight, selflessness, courage and an unwavering commitment to uplifting the masses. Leaders must have moral authority and integrity to unite and inspire a people. Leaders take the wheel and chart the course forward during crises, rather than fiddle with superficial symbols while the nation groans in pain and anguish. Sadly, these crucial leadership traits are sorely lacking among most of our ‘elected’ officials.
The very fact that our federal lawmakers focused on changing the national anthem, rather than the many crises devastating our nation, proves their lack of leadership. One had expected members of the National Assembly to focus their efforts on the severe lack of basic amenities for millions of Nigerians – lack of food, shelter, healthcare, and basic infrastructure. It is a national disgrace that in the year 2024, many of our people still do not have reliable access to clean water, electricity, good roads, quality education, and modern healthcare facilities. Yet rather than declare a state of emergency to rapidly address our broken system, our federal lawmakers are obsessed over altering the anthem that most of them cannot even recite correctly.
Our transportation infrastructure lies in ruins across the nation – roads are pockmarked with craters, highways are death traps, our railways have atrophied though currently being resuscitated. Travelling for work, trade or even medical emergencies has become a nightmare obstacle course. School buildings are decrepit, lacking basic facilities and learning aids. Our hospitals too have become dilapidated, with obsolete equipment and lacking even basic amenities like running water and reliable power supply. Nigerian women giving birth are at risk due to these infrastructural lapses.
Meanwhile, despite being tremendously blessed with human and natural resources that should make us a global economic powerhouse, Nigeria’s economy remains in perpetual crisis. Our educational standards have deteriorated abysmally, forcing a brain drain as our top talents flee overseas for opportunities. Businesses and industries are shuttering at an alarming rate as the economic climate grows ever more hostile. Nigeria has incredibly slid from being Africa’s largest economy to the fourth, with South Africa, Egypt and Algeria coming first, second and third, respectively.
Rampant insecurity has made life a constant struggle against fear for the average Nigerian. Terrorist groups and bandits continue to wreak havoc, kidnapping citizens for ransom, razing villages, blocking farmers from their fields and herders from grazing lands. This has precipitated severe food shortages and famine looms. Common criminals also operate with impunity, making travel treacherous and businesses unsafe.
Yet in the face of this all-encompassing socio-economic conflagration, which demands innovative solutions and inspirational leadership to extinguish, what occupied the minds of our federal legislators? Changing the anthem? This betrays an astounding detachment from the suffering of the ordinary Nigerian. It lays bare their tragic lack of vision and unwillingness to prioritise the most pressing needs. For truly these politicians are not leaders.
Nigerians have witnessed very little, if any, vital leadership traits from those who have held high office in recent decades. Instead, we have seen a disturbing trend of selfishness, small-mindedness and lack of patriotic vision across our political class. Rather than availing themselves as eternal servants of the people’s welfare, our politicians appear to view public office as an opportunity for self-enrichment and vain pursuits.
The current national anthem saga betrays a fundamental lack of seriousness. It exposes our ‘elected’ officials’ alarming indifference towards the plight of ordinary citizens. The priority of these overpaid public officers should be ensuring good governance, efficient utilisation of human and natural resources, and enabling an environment where businesses can thrive and citizens can live dignified lives in peace and safety. Not chasing clout through symbolic tokenism that does nothing to improve the gruelling daily reality for millions.
What our political elite clearly need is a reorientation – a drastic revision of their mindsets, priorities and overall direction. They must develop the selflessness, vision and commitment to service that defines true leadership. Each elected officer must have an awakening, comprehensively internalising their sacred duty as eternal servants of the people’s interests and national progress, not self-aggrandisement. This is the urgent imperative.
Once such a reorientation occurs, with our politicians embracing the ideals of statesmanship and transformative leadership, no mountain will be too high for Nigeria to overcome. We will rapidly rise to secure our justly deserved position as true African giants on the global stage. Under visionary stewardship, our unrivalled human and natural resources will be efficiently harnessed to uplift the masses, modernising our infrastructure, turbocharging economic growth, and maximizing our technological and industrial capabilities. Security will be prioritised and swiftly restored for all citizens to live in peace.
These are the duties for which Nigerians go out to vote on election day. Not to chase empty symbols like changing an anthem, while neglecting the harsh existential struggles of the very people they swore to serve. What our politicians urgently require is not a new national lyric, but a rebirth of the leadership ideals and spirit of service that guided our founding patriots.
Once that vital reorientation is achieved, once that spirit of transformative statesmanship takes hold within the corridors of power, then no matter what words our green-white-green banner flies under, Nigeria will stand proud. We will arise, taking our rightful place as African renaissance leaders. The catalyst lies not in the words we recite, but in the mindsets and priorities of those we entrust to elevate our collective destiny as a nation. That is the crucial imperative before us all.
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