The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has refuted claims that citizens are required to obtain permission from the Agency before using the National Anthem.
Paul Odenyi, the Deputy Director of Press at the agency, made the clarification in a statement on Wednesday.
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The statement reads: “The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has dismissed as untrue reports insinuating that the Agency must give permission to citizens before they can use the National Anthem.
“The correct submissions of NOA’s Director-General, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, during an interview with Radio Kwara is that the Agency, as the custodian of national symbols, will issue correct melodies of the National Anthem. He also advocated that those who produce national flags or use them for commercial advertisement purposes should obtain the correct versions from NOA.
“As a matter of fact, all state offices of the Agency are currently undertaking programmes aimed at enlightening Nigerians on the lyrics of the reintroduced National Anthem.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the new approvals given by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) prescribe that the first stanza of the National Anthem will be sung at all official government programmes, while the entire three stanzas will be used only at special events such as the Democracy Day, the opening of parliament et cetera. The third stanza has been designated as a national prayer.
“In line with this mandate, NOA has released the correct and authentic lyrics of the National Anthem, reintroducing it as part of its initiative to promote the new National Anthem Act signed by the President.
“NOA, therefore, calls on all citizens to ignore such misleading reports and freely use the National Anthem, and simultaneously respect and honour the national symbols, which embody our nation’s aspirations and unity.”