Nation anthem controversy: 𝗢𝗸𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗽𝗮 backs Yesufu’s

𝗝𝗶𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻 𝗢𝗸𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗽𝗮 𝗦𝗔𝗡 weighs In On Aisha Yesufu’s Refusal To Stand Up For The Reintroduced National Anthem

There have been arguments and counters arguments on social media for and against the decision of Aisha Yesufu, not to stand up when the now reintroduced old National Anthem was being rendered at an occasion she attended.

Some of my enlightened, educated, and learned friends have argued that Aisha was under constitutional obligations as her civic duty to stand up when this old reintroduced national anthem was being recited or played.

𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙞𝙛𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘼𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙖 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙥 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙊𝙡𝙙 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝙉𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝘼𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙧 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙥 𝙤𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩.

𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙡𝙖𝙬 𝙞𝙣 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙝𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙛 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙉𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝘼𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙧 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙙?. 𝙋𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚, 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙡𝙖𝙬, 𝙄 𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙗𝙚 𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮 𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨.

I have not seen such a law. Some of my colleagues said in answer to my question whether there was any law Aisha violated by her decision not to stand up said that her conduct was disrespectful and violated her civic duty under section 24 of the 1999 constitution.

Disrespectful and violation of her civic duties and obligations? These answers with profound respect did not appeal to me in the least, as it has not answered my question except to justify their self opinionated partisan interests, which in my view did not answer my question. What makes Aisha conduct disrespectful. Disrespectful to who and whom?

𝙁𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢 𝘾𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙘 𝙙𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚. 𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢 𝙘𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙘 𝙙𝙪𝙩𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙮, 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙖𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚, 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙉𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝘼𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙬 𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙞𝙘.

The question I asked and i am still asking is, is it an offence not to stand up or sing the National Anthem when it is sang or played.

The constitution of Nigeria said nothing is an offence unless the penalty for doing so is prescribed in a written law. Which law prescribed that it is an offence if one fails to stand up or sing the National Anthem when the National Anthem is being rendered.

I see none, and I think none exists. The desire of many of us holding private citizens to some standards of conduct not being exhibited by those in authority and power is clearly not in tune with law.

𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙪𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙖𝙬 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙩.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙉𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝘼𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙞𝙨, 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬, 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙞𝙡𝙡-𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝘼𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙖𝙬 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙥𝙪𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙉𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝘼𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢.

There are many areas of our national life that require good laws from the National Assembly. Those who claimed that Aisha violated her civic duties and obligations have not been able to hold the Nigerian government accountable for total failure to respect chapter 3 of the Nigerian constitution.

Has the Nigerian government improved the economic well-being of Nigerians. Instead of improving the well-being and welfare of Nigerians, we are being treated to absurdity of reintroduction of National Anthem at one year anniversary of this government to divert attention from realities of poverty ravageing the land.

All these meaningless debates on civic duties and obligations of Aisha are unnecessary and uncalled for. Let us hold our government accountable for failure to guarantee the greatest happiness of the greatest good of all Nigerians.