The National Orientation Agency has issued fresh guidelines on how Nigeria’s national anthem should be performed.
It directed that only the first stanza be sung at official events, while the third serves as prayer.
The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has released new directives on how Nigeria’s national anthem should be performed at official and public functions.
The four-point guideline, announced on Thursday, October 16, 2025, clarifies when and how the anthem’s different stanzas are to be used. According to the agency, only the first stanza should be sung at official events, while the third stanza will now serve as the national prayer to be recited at the beginning of gatherings.
The statement further explained that all three stanzas should be rendered only during special national occasions such as Independence Day, the inauguration of a president, Armed Forces Remembrance Day, Democracy Day (June 12), and the inauguration of the National Assembly.
It added that the National Pledge should be recited at the end of events.
The new directive follows the reintroduction of the old anthem, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee,” signed into law by President Bola Tinubu in May 2025.
