NOA Highlights Common Errors in Nigeria’s National Anthem

The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has taken a significant step to promote patriotism and respect for national symbols by highlighting common errors Nigerians commit when reciting the National Anthem.

In a recent flyer, the agency, under the leadership of Director-General Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, pointed out specific errors and provided corrections.

The errors include:
– “Tribe” which should be “tribes”
– “Tongue” which should be “tongues”
– “Nigerians all, and” which should be “Nigerians all, are”
– “Nigeria shall be blessed” which should be “Nigeria may be blessed”

The NOA’s enlightenment campaign aims to clean up the Anthem of infelicities and enhance its syntactic flow.

This development comes after the agency had earlier issued guidelines on the correct usage of the National Anthem and Pledge.

According to the guidelines, only the first stanza of the National Anthem should be sung at official functions, while the National Pledge should be recited at the end of such programmes.

The guidelines also specify that the full three stanzas of the National Anthem can only be sung on specific occasions such as Independence Day, Inauguration of a President, Armed Forces Remembrance Day, and Democracy Day.

The NOA Director-General, Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, emphasised the importance of adhering to these guidelines to promote uniformity and respect for national symbols.

This initiative is part of the agency’s public enlightenment drive to educate Nigerians on the proper usage of national symbols.

By correcting these errors and promoting the correct usage of the National Anthem and Pledge, the NOA aims to instil a sense of patriotism and national pride in Nigerians.