The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has given Community Orientation and Mobilization Officers in the 774 local governments a 72-hour deadline to commit the newly signed national anthem to memory.
The directive, issued by the agency’s Director General, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, is part of efforts to ensure a seamless transition to the new national anthem, which is a key aspect of the national identity project aimed at promoting national cohesion, unity, and patriotism.
The Community Orientation and Mobilisation Officers (COMOS) are responsible for enlightening citizens at the grassroots level about government policies, programs, and activities.
The agency is also working closely with the National Union of Teachers (NUT) to ensure that schools across the country start using the current national anthem.
According to the NOA, President Bola Tinubu assented to the bill reverting to the use of ‘Nigeria We Hail Thee,’ the country’s former national anthem, on Wednesday.
The agency urged all community officers to take the directive seriously and make every effort to learn the new national anthem by the specified deadline, as they would be the grassroots marshals for the implementation of this new policy.
As the custodian of the nation’s symbols, NOA has the mandate to promote and preserve the integrity of all national icons, including the national anthem.
The agency is committed to ensuring that every citizen has access to the new national anthem, which is expected to inspire a sense of pride and unity among Nigerians.
