President Bola Ahmed Tinubu revived Nigeria's first national anthem in 2024, 45 years after it was retired. The anthem, written by Lillian Jane Williams and scored by Frances Benda, includes a prayer to the "God of all creation" to help build a nation where no man is oppressed. This invocation originally failed to prevent a pogrom, a civil war, and four coups in Nigeria's first 20 years of independence, which led to the deaths of three of its first four heads of state and three of its first four heads of government. A second anthem introduced in 1978, arranged by the Police Band, also calls on the "God of creation" to help build a nation where peace and justice reign. That anthem became associated with military rulers who caused constitutional instability. In 1993, five days after the military annulled the June 12 election, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria launched "Prayer for Nigeria in Distress." The prayer confesses collective sin and moral failure, asking God to spare Nigeria from chaos and doom. Some Catholic clergy have since blessed politicians known to have rigged elections and accepted stolen funds. The prayer admits Nigeria is burdened by moral, economic, and political problems. Kebbi State Governor Nasir Idris recently called for "divine intervention" to address insecurity in the country.
Nasir Idris calls for divine intervention to curb insecurity while Catholic bishops have blessed politicians who thrive on it. The same prayer meant to save Nigeria has been used to sanctify those who undermine it. This contradiction exposes a ritual hollowed out by complicity. Nigerians are praying for deliverance from a crisis some of their most trusted moral figures helped entrench.
💡 NaijaBuzz is an AI-assisted news aggregator. This content is curated from third-party sources — NaijaBuzz is not the original publisher and is not responsible for the accuracy of source reporting. The NaijaBuzz Take is AI-assisted editorial opinion only, not established fact. All persons mentioned are presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction. NaijaBuzz does not endorse the views expressed in source articles.
