ARISE O 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)= Acknowledgement
(To serve with heart and might)= Sincerity
One nation bound in freedom,
Peace and unity.
The above is the first stanza of the Nigerian National anthem. For a brief history, the anthem was composed by Mr. Ben Odiase, the Director of Music, Nigerian Police Band. The anthem was adopted in October 1978 - 18years after our independence.
Going through this anthem, I realized there are certain values that were embedded within it that we have derailed from as a nation. The anthem on its own is a call to patriotism. Embedded within this first stanza are the values of obedience, service, love, strength (ability), faith, acknowledgement, sincerity, freedom (of expression), peace and unity.
Have we been able to fulfill the words of this anthem as a nation? I guess if you are reading this article as a Nigerian, you will probably be quick to point to the fact that government in the country right from inception has failed us, right? However, this article seeks to probe beyond the appalling attitude of the ruling class to address what is probably expected of us as individual members of the nation.
On Thursday October 1, 2009, Christ Embassy celebrated the Nigeria 49th Independence with a rally that was done across the nation in the national colours. It was beautiful. Looking at them as an individual, though not a member of the Church, I felt so good being a Nigerian.
The Church celebrated with about 10million copies of Rhapsody of Reality a daily devotional packed with inspiring messages that will ignite the patriotic spirit in the minds of Nigerians. I really commend this and must confess it prompted me to write this piece.
The main purpose of this write-up therefore is to inform every Nigerian that patriotism is not an option but a requirement for this nation to be what it ought to be. At the moment, the prevailing thinking is that patriotism can only be achieved if we have good leadership. This notion should be discarded. For a true Nigerian, your patriotic spirit should not swing with the political tide.
From the analysis of the constituent elements of the first stanza of the nation’s anthem above, we’ll see that there are values we’ve been practicing that are questioning us if truly we are Nigerians.
For example, disobedience is one vice that has found its root in our national life. We formulate laws and never live by them; our inherited culture of obedience is becoming eroded. We loathe simple instructions that have been put together by our collective agreement to make things work. People just want to outwit the system and they believe by so doing they are smarter than other Nigerians.
Another value we esteem lightly is service. Our service rendering in this country is poor and this is probably due to wrong notions we have with regard to service. A number of people work in organizations and are being paid at the end of the month for a job not done. Service rendering in our public institutions and ministries is so poor that a number of people don’t even pray to have any deal with the various ministries.
Taking it a step further, in the United States for example, serving in institutions like US Army, Marine among others is an opportunity every American will cheerfully consider as a form of contribution to the good of their nation. The various educational Institutions in the United States also have days they carry-out what is known as community services in which students contribute to the development of their immediate community.
On the part of the education sector contributing to service in the nation, we may want to consider the fact that the National Youth Service Corps in the country was established to entrench the heart of service among Nigerian graduates. However, has the scheme achieved its purpose? Some of our youths see this one year of service to our fatherland as a waste and majority always found options around the scheme.
Love is another cogent value that must be part of our lifestyle as a nation. Love for the nation unconditionally, love for the people no matter the region. Our love for this Country and the people should not be a function of the performance of the ruling class or the people in power. In fact, it is our love for one another and the nation at large that will make us enthrone leaders that will make our nation proud. Genuine love for human life for example will make us rethink the idea of killing one another for money making rituals and the killing of political opponents to attain political positions among our politicians.
An additional value we must also nurse as a nation is faith in the future of this country. We can’t have Ghanaians believe in the future of our nation for us and neither will the Americans do. We must have faith in our ability to make things work as a nation. Since every invention in the inception occurs in the mind of the inventor, we therefore must believe first with regard to what we want our nation to be, then it will become so. And as we become what we envision, we must acknowledge our efforts individually by offering appropriate motivation and celebrating our successes as a nation.
Every Nigerian should be free to contribute to the development of this nation with legal and moral backing to do so. Freedom to hold opinions and demand for things to be done right from the ruling class must be conferred on the people. We must now be known to be sincere people. Sincerity should not be a matter of sloganeering but what we must earn by reason of our national and international relationships.
As I round up however, I must sound it again that being patriotic about our nation should not be a function of whether we have good government or not. It is only by being patriotic as a nation that we can enthrone good government and remember that it’s the coming together of the parts that form the whole.
One nation bound in freedom, peace and unity!
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)= Acknowledgement
(To serve with heart and might)= Sincerity
One nation bound in freedom,
Peace and unity.
The above is the first stanza of the Nigerian National anthem. For a brief history, the anthem was composed by Mr. Ben Odiase, the Director of Music, Nigerian Police Band. The anthem was adopted in October 1978 - 18years after our independence.
Going through this anthem, I realized there are certain values that were embedded within it that we have derailed from as a nation. The anthem on its own is a call to patriotism. Embedded within this first stanza are the values of obedience, service, love, strength (ability), faith, acknowledgement, sincerity, freedom (of expression), peace and unity.
Have we been able to fulfill the words of this anthem as a nation? I guess if you are reading this article as a Nigerian, you will probably be quick to point to the fact that government in the country right from inception has failed us, right? However, this article seeks to probe beyond the appalling attitude of the ruling class to address what is probably expected of us as individual members of the nation.
On Thursday October 1, 2009, Christ Embassy celebrated the Nigeria 49th Independence with a rally that was done across the nation in the national colours. It was beautiful. Looking at them as an individual, though not a member of the Church, I felt so good being a Nigerian.
The Church celebrated with about 10million copies of Rhapsody of Reality a daily devotional packed with inspiring messages that will ignite the patriotic spirit in the minds of Nigerians. I really commend this and must confess it prompted me to write this piece.
The main purpose of this write-up therefore is to inform every Nigerian that patriotism is not an option but a requirement for this nation to be what it ought to be. At the moment, the prevailing thinking is that patriotism can only be achieved if we have good leadership. This notion should be discarded. For a true Nigerian, your patriotic spirit should not swing with the political tide.
From the analysis of the constituent elements of the first stanza of the nation’s anthem above, we’ll see that there are values we’ve been practicing that are questioning us if truly we are Nigerians.
For example, disobedience is one vice that has found its root in our national life. We formulate laws and never live by them; our inherited culture of obedience is becoming eroded. We loathe simple instructions that have been put together by our collective agreement to make things work. People just want to outwit the system and they believe by so doing they are smarter than other Nigerians.
Another value we esteem lightly is service. Our service rendering in this country is poor and this is probably due to wrong notions we have with regard to service. A number of people work in organizations and are being paid at the end of the month for a job not done. Service rendering in our public institutions and ministries is so poor that a number of people don’t even pray to have any deal with the various ministries.
Taking it a step further, in the United States for example, serving in institutions like US Army, Marine among others is an opportunity every American will cheerfully consider as a form of contribution to the good of their nation. The various educational Institutions in the United States also have days they carry-out what is known as community services in which students contribute to the development of their immediate community.
On the part of the education sector contributing to service in the nation, we may want to consider the fact that the National Youth Service Corps in the country was established to entrench the heart of service among Nigerian graduates. However, has the scheme achieved its purpose? Some of our youths see this one year of service to our fatherland as a waste and majority always found options around the scheme.
Love is another cogent value that must be part of our lifestyle as a nation. Love for the nation unconditionally, love for the people no matter the region. Our love for this Country and the people should not be a function of the performance of the ruling class or the people in power. In fact, it is our love for one another and the nation at large that will make us enthrone leaders that will make our nation proud. Genuine love for human life for example will make us rethink the idea of killing one another for money making rituals and the killing of political opponents to attain political positions among our politicians.
An additional value we must also nurse as a nation is faith in the future of this country. We can’t have Ghanaians believe in the future of our nation for us and neither will the Americans do. We must have faith in our ability to make things work as a nation. Since every invention in the inception occurs in the mind of the inventor, we therefore must believe first with regard to what we want our nation to be, then it will become so. And as we become what we envision, we must acknowledge our efforts individually by offering appropriate motivation and celebrating our successes as a nation.
Every Nigerian should be free to contribute to the development of this nation with legal and moral backing to do so. Freedom to hold opinions and demand for things to be done right from the ruling class must be conferred on the people. We must now be known to be sincere people. Sincerity should not be a matter of sloganeering but what we must earn by reason of our national and international relationships.
As I round up however, I must sound it again that being patriotic about our nation should not be a function of whether we have good government or not. It is only by being patriotic as a nation that we can enthrone good government and remember that it’s the coming together of the parts that form the whole.
One nation bound in freedom, peace and unity!
