In a move that connects the present to the past, President Bola Tinubu has signed into law a bill that reinstates Nigeria's original national anthem, "Nigeria, We Hail Thee."

Senate President Godswill Akpabio made the announcement during a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives on Wednesday, May 29, 2024. The signing coincides with President Tinubu's first anniversary in office.

The bill, which proposes the return to the anthem penned by Lillian Jean Williams and composed by Frances Berda, received swift passage through both chambers of the National Assembly.

"Nigeria, We Hail Thee," served as the country's anthem at independence and was later replaced in 1978 during the military regime of Olusegun Obasanjo.

The lyrics of the anthem are as follows:

Nigeria, we hail thee,

Our own dear native land,

Though tribe and tongue may differ,

In brotherhood, we stand,

Nigerians all, and proud to serve

Our sovereign Motherland.



Our flag shall be a symbol

That truth and justice reign,

In peace or battle honour’d,

And this we count as gain,

To hand on to our children

A banner without stain.



O God of all creation,

Grant this our one request,

Help us to build a nation

Where no man is oppressed,

And so with peace and plenty

Nigeria may be blessed.