Nigeria vs S’Africa: Nigerians advise Eagles to mime new anthem

Players of the Super Eagles have been advised to simply mime the new National Anthem instead of fretting over singing it during the CAF World Cup qualifying tie against South Africa at Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo on June 7. PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The advice came from some concerned Nigerians in their response to a Facebook post by former Nigeria goalkeeper Peterside Idah, who expressed his concern about the players’ ability to sing the old anthem reintroduced by the federal government on May 29 following approval by the National Assembly.

“I hope these Super Eagles players will not disgrace us while the National Anthem is being played,” stated the former Enyimba shot stopper, pastor, and football analyst.

It elicited a myriad of comments, with former Nigerian forward and Shooting Stars Sports Club general manager Dimeji Lawal the first to share his thoughts, urging the players to simply mime the anthem.

He stated, “The microphone will not be in their hands; all they’re expected to do is miming. Milli Vanilli sold lots of albums in the 80s without even knowing the lyrics; the singer is always somewhere behind the scenes… Power of technology.”

This was corroborated by John Atoyebi, who wrote, "They will fold their hands, mute, and look up like some of our foreign-based 1994 players did. There is no wahala in being quiet unless you know the lyrics. Even some England players do it, not because they don’t know the anthem but just to keep their calm ahead of the big assignment ahead.”

Miffed by the federal government’s imposition of the task of singing the old anthem amid a plethora of survival challenges, Olajide Flora stated, “Nobody should blame them if they can’t recite the anthem; I bet it if Tinubu himself knows how to sing it.”

Jarias Leonard shared her sentiment and wrote, “Let Tinubu himself sing it after any broadcast.”

Njoju Nnadozie wrote, “Eagles will remain mute while the trumpet will sing the anthem.”

”Do they even need to sing along? I don’t think so, for the fact that the people who singed it into law can’t also say the anthem,” wrote Kingsley Okoro.

All Nigerian internationals were not born at the time the old anthem was sung in the 1960s and 1970s, before the introduction of the new, rested second one. Some of them have been making an effort to sing the reintroduced anthem, with Super Falcons captain and Atletico Madrid forward Rasheedat Ajide recently frantically trying to do so in a video on her Instagram page, as cited by PUNCH Sports Extra.

The Super Eagles will be aiming to rekindle 2026 World Cup qualification hopes against Bafana Bafana in Uyo and, four days later, travel to Ivory Coast to face Benin Republic in a week-five fixture at Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan.

After two rounds of games, Nigeria are third in Group A with two points behind Rwanda and South Africa with four and three points, respectively.

Nigeria reached the AFCON final, defeating South Africa in the semi-finals before losing to the hosts.

During the March friendlies, Rwanda drew with Botswana and defeated Madagascar; Lesotho registered one win, one draw, and two losses from their 2024 friendlies; Zimbabwe defeated Zambia and lost to Kenya; and Benin drew with Côte d’Ivoire and lost to Senegal.