Following the recent death of Pa Benedict Odise, widely credited as the composer of the current national anthem, I got a condolence message on his death from Dr Sota Omoigui, a United States-based Nigerian medical practitioner who claimed to be one of the co-authors of the words of the national anthem.
While paying glowing tributes to the memory of Pa Odiase, he emphasised the distinction between who composed the music of the anthem and those who wrote the words.
I was particularly touched by the paragraph in the tribute in which he said he had looked forward to the day when the authors of the music and words of the anthem, Arise O Compatriots, would have been brought together at an event. ”Alas death cannot continue to wait forever,” he stated.
The impression I got from the mail was that while Pa Odiase had gotten all the acclaim and even a national award for composing the music, there have been no recognition for the five writers of the words, Omoigui, John A Ilechukwu, Eme Etim Akpan, B.A.Ogunaike, and P.O.Aderibigbe.
Their entries were selected from the 1,499 received from the national competition organised by the National Publicity Committee on the Draft Constitution/Return to civilian regime in 1978.
When I eventually interviewed Omoigui, who said he does not feel cheated for not being acknowledged or rewarded like Pa Odiase, he gave an indication why it is wrong for the government and the media to carry on as if he and his co-authors do not exist or matter.
”The origin of the national anthem has been forgotten and that explains why none of the other authors has been acknowledged. All the newspaper reports since the transition of Pa Odiase have described him incorrectly as the composer of the national anthem. History is history, it cannot be altered and we must document it as it is. A nation that forgets its history has no guide to its future, ” Omoigui stated.
Following the publication of Sota’s interview on June 22, another co-composer, Aderibigbe, who was a 100 level Political Science student at the University of Ibadan when he sent his entry, called at our office recently with his original composition.
While Sota did the last two lines of the anthem, Aderibigbe, a former special assistant in the national assembly, wrote lines one, two, five and six.
In his interview published yesterday in The Nation on Saturday, Aderibigbe recalled how the then military administration failed to pay the honorarium promised after the selection of the five entries.
“Even the music of the anthem as composed by the late Pa Odiase was sung without us being invited and is regrettable that up till today there has been no acknowledgement.”
Ogunnaike, another co-author, is now a Professor and Dean of Engineering in University of Delaware in US. According to UDaily, an online publication of the university, Ogunaike left the country before the final selection was made and only learnt from his father that some of his words were incorporated in the anthem. Unlike Aderibigbe, he got N50 prize for his contribution.
There is no information on the two others for now, but chances are that they are alive and also not happy that their contribution to the anthem has not gotten the acknowledgement it deserves.
Considering the various national orientation programmes by the successive governments in the country, it should have occurred to someone to search for the authors to share the thoughts that informed the lines they contributed to the national anthem.
Since the authors are still alive, it’s not too late to host them, may be at a national forum where they will not only speak on the anthem, but will be given the honour they deserved.
