HE SAT FOR NIGERIA, BUT STOOD FOR HIS PARTY. THE ANTHEM IS NOT ABOUT PRESIDENT TINUBU, IT IS ABOUT NIGERIA: A CRITIQUE OF PETER OBI’S IRRESPONSIBLE CONDUCT AT THE NDC TOWN HALL MEETING IN LAGOS

By OSIFO, Osa Washington, Esq.

THE FACTS, AS THE WORLD SAW THEM.

On Thursday, at the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) Town Hall Meeting in Oregun, Lagos, Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the NDC for 2027, did what no serious presidential aspirant in any serious country would dare to do.

When the audience was asked to stand for the recital of the current national anthem, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee,” Obi, alongside Funso Doherty, the party’s Lagos governorship candidate, and other supporters, declined to stand.

The anchor was then forced to switch to the former anthem, “Arise, O Compatriots.” Only then did Obi stand. Only then did he sing. And as he sang, he faced the crowd with two fingers raised on both hands, forming a gesture associated with the NDC logo.

He did not just sing an old song. He sat down for Nigeria and stood up for his party. He refused the nation and embraced the faction. He rejected the symbol and advertised the logo.

This was not ignorance. This was choreography. This was not a mistake. This was a message.

As I have always taught: “A man who cannot stand for his country’s anthem cannot be trusted to stand for his country’s Constitution.”

Let us now examine this irresponsible conduct from four perspectives: Legal, Political, Social, and Administrative.

1.) THE LEGAL PERSPECTIVE: DISOBEDIENCE TO A LAW HE SEEKS TO ENFORCE.

Let us be legally precise.

By the National Anthem Act 2024, signed into law by President Bola Tinubu on May 29, 2024, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee” was restored as Nigeria’s official national anthem, replacing “Arise, O Compatriots” which had served from 1978.

That Act is not a suggestion. It is not a party manifesto. It is not a campaign jingle. It is a Law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, passed by the National Assembly, assented to by the President.

Section 2 of that legislation recognises the anthem as a national symbol that must be respected.

Peter Obi is a former Governor. He is a former presidential candidate. He is a lawyer’s nightmare and a law student’s case study in contradiction: He wants to be the Chief Enforcer of the laws of Nigeria, yet he publicly disobeys the laws of Nigeria.

How can a man who refuses to obey a simple law about an anthem be trusted to obey the complex laws about elections, about the economy, about security, about the Federation Account?

It is true, as Minister Festus Keyamo himself admitted, that the Act prescribes no specific penalty for refusal. But law is not only about penalty. Law is also about obligation, about legitimacy, about respect for the sovereign will of the people expressed through Parliament.

As I have always taught: “You do not need a prison sentence to prove a law has been broken. You only need a conscience to prove a duty has been betrayed.”

Obi’s defenders will say: “He has freedom of expression.” Yes, he has freedom. But freedom of expression does not include freedom to replace the national anthem at a public political gathering with a proscribed anthem, while using that moment to promote a party logo.

The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that fundamental rights are not absolute. They are exercised subject to the interest of public order, public morality, and national unity. To use freedom to undermine national unity is to abuse freedom.

Worse, Obi did not sing the old anthem after the new anthem, as a nostalgic song. He sang it in place of the new anthem. That is the distinction Keyamo rightly drew: “Nobody stops Peter Obi from adopting a song, even the old anthem, as his own song. But it must be sung either before or AFTER the legally recognised National Anthem is given its due RECOGNITION.”

Obi gave no recognition. He gave rejection.

As I have always taught: “A presidential candidate who selects which laws to obey is already telling you which laws he will disobey as President.”

2.) THE POLITICAL PERSPECTIVE: A CANDIDATE WHO CAMPAIGNS AGAINST THE COUNTRY HE WANTS TO RULE.

Politically, this is suicidal. It is also revealing.

A presidential candidate is supposed to be a unifier. He is supposed to rise above party. He is supposed to say: “I am not just NDC. I am Nigerian first.”

Obi did the opposite. He said, in action: “I am NDC first. Nigeria second.”

By raising two fingers on both hands to form the NDC logo while the anthem was being sung, he turned a solemn national moment into a partisan advert. He turned the sacred into the commercial. He turned patriotism into party propaganda.

That gesture is not innocent. In politics, symbols are messages. The raised fingers were not a sign of victory. They were a sign of replacement. They said: “My party is my country. My logo is my flag. My anthem is my choice.”

As I have always taught: “When a politician puts his party logo above his national flag, he has already told you who he will serve in office.”

This is also politically hypocritical. Obi won Lagos in 2023 with 582,354 votes against Tinubu’s 572,606 votes. He won Lagos as a Nigerian candidate, under a Nigerian Constitution, in a Nigerian election, protected by Nigerian law. How can he now go back to that same Lagos and tell Lagosians that the Nigerian anthem is not worthy of his standing?

Furthermore, this act hands his opponents a legitimate weapon. Minister Nyesom Wike was right to ask: “A whole national anthem of a country is being sung. A man who wants to be President of Nigeria would disobey and sit down. And then not only that, when a different national anthem that is not being used for Nigeria was sung, he stood up.”

That question will follow Obi to every campaign ground in 2027. Every time he says “I will unite Nigeria,” Nigerians will show him the video and say: “You could not even unite yourself to stand for Nigeria.”

As I have always taught: “You cannot campaign against Nigeria and then ask Nigeria to campaign for you.”

3.) THE SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE: TEACHING A GENERATION TO DISRESPECT NIGERIA.

Socially, this is the most dangerous part.

Nigeria is a fragile federation. We have over 250 ethnic groups. We have Christians, Muslims, traditionalists. We have North, South, East, West. What holds us together is not oil. What holds us together is not the Naira. What holds us together are our shared symbols: The Constitution, the Flag, the Coat of Arms, the Pledge, and the National Anthem.

As Ambassador Reno Omokri rightly warned, the Constitution, national anthem and national football team are apolitical symbols that unite Nigerians, and anyone who openly disrespected them should not expect citizens to entrust them with the country’s leadership.

When a leader of Obi’s stature sits down for the anthem, he is not just sitting down. He is teaching millions of young Obidients to sit down. He is teaching schoolchildren that national symbols are optional. He is teaching a generation that disrespect is courage, that defiance is patriotism, that disobedience is leadership.

What will happen tomorrow when a student refuses to stand for the anthem in school and says: “Peter Obi sat down, why should I stand up?” What will happen when a youth corps member refuses to sing the anthem at NYSC camp and says: “My candidate did not sing it”? What will happen when a footballer refuses to stand for the anthem before a match and says: “I am following Obi”?

As I have always taught: “A leader does not only lead with his words. He leads with his sitting and his standing. When he sits for Nigeria, a generation will sit for Nigeria.”

This is social irresponsibility of the highest order. It is the transfer of partisan bitterness into national culture. It is the poisoning of the well from which we all drink.

Nigeria does not need a leader who teaches our children to hate Nigeria. Nigeria needs a leader who teaches our children to love Nigeria even when they disagree with the government of the day.

You can disagree with Tinubu. You can disagree with the National Assembly. You can disagree with the process that restored the anthem. But you cannot disagree with Nigeria itself. Tinubu is not Nigeria. The National Assembly is not Nigeria. The anthem is Nigeria.

As I have always taught: “To hate the government is politics. To hate the anthem is to hate the nation.”

4.) THE ADMINISTRATIVE PERSPECTIVE: A MAN WHO CANNOT ADMINISTER A TOWN HALL MEETING WANTS TO ADMINISTER A NATION.

Administratively, this is a failure of leadership and control.

Obi was the principal guest at that Town Hall Meeting. He was the leader in the room. When the anchor started the wrong anthem, or when the crowd refused the right anthem, it was his duty as a leader to correct the room.

A responsible administrator would have said: “Stop. Let us first give respect to the current national anthem of Nigeria as required by law. After that, we can sing any other song as our party song.”

Instead, he joined the disorder. He legitimized the disorder. He led the disorder.

That is not leadership. That is followership of the mob.

If Obi cannot administer a simple town hall meeting in Oregun, how will he administer a complex Federal Executive Council meeting in Aso Rock? If he cannot control an anchor, how will he control ministers? If he cannot control his supporters from desecrating a national symbol, how will he control a nation of 230 million people?

Administration is about process, protocol, and precedence. A President must understand that there is a time for party and a time for State. The anthem moment is State time, not party time. By mixing the two, Obi showed he does not understand the difference between being a party candidate and being a statesman.

As I have always taught: “A man who cannot separate party from State in a town hall meeting will not be able to separate party from State in the Villa. And that is how a country becomes a party property.”

CONCLUSION: NIGERIA IS BIGGER THAN OBI, BIGGER THAN NDC, BIGGER THAN ANY PARTY

Let us end with clarity and with love for Nigeria.

Peter Obi is entitled to his preference for “Arise, O Compatriots.” Many Nigerians, including myself, grew up with that anthem and love its words. Many Nigerians disagreed with the hurried restoration of “Nigeria, We Hail Thee.” That disagreement is legitimate. That debate is democratic.

But preference is not disobedience. Nostalgia is not defiance. And campaign is not anarchy.

You can sing the old anthem in your house. You can sing it in your car. You can sing it as a party song after you have honoured the national anthem. But you cannot sit down for Nigeria and stand up for your party and expect Nigerians to call that leadership.

Nigeria deserves a President who will stand for Nigeria even when it is inconvenient. Nigeria deserves a President who will stand for Nigeria even when his party disagrees. Nigeria deserves a President who will stand for Nigeria even when the cameras are rolling and the crowd is shouting.

Obi sat down. Nigeria stood up and watched.

As I have always taught: “The anthem is not about Tinubu. The anthem is not about Obi. The anthem is about us. And any man who sits when we are supposed to stand has already disqualified himself from leading us.”

Nigeria is bigger than Obi. Nigeria is bigger than NDC. Nigeria is bigger than APC. Nigeria is bigger than any party, any candidate, any logo, any gesture.

And Nigeria will outlive this irresponsible conduct.

OSIFO, Osa Washington, Esq.
LL.B; B.L; LL.M, MPA; Ph.D (Comparative Politics and Development Studies); Ph.D (Law in view)
Lawyer | Political Scientist | Public Administrator | Policy Analyst.
Date: November 15, 2026.

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