Former Minister of Solid Minerals Oby Ezekwesili and activist Aisha Yesufu could risk spending 10 years in jail or be fined N5 million as the House of Representatives, through a new bill, seeks stiffer sanctions for Nigerians refusing to sing the national anthem.

Speaker Tajudeen Abbas of the House of Representatives sponsored the Counter Subversion Bill 2024 to penalise citizens who refuse to sing the new and controversial anthem, ‘Nigeria, We Hail Thee’.

Also, Nigerians found guilty of destroying national symbols (including the flag) as a means to undermine the government will pay a fine of N5 million or serve a 10-year jail term if the bill is passed into law.

The bill “stipulates that anyone found guilty of destroying national symbols, refusing to recite the national anthem and pledge, defacing a place of worship with intent to incite violence, or undermining the federal government shall face a fine of N5 million, a 10-year prison sentence, or both.”

Since President Bola Tinubu reverted to the previously old anthem in May, some citizens, including Mses Ezekwesili and Yesufu, insisted they would rather sing the ‘Arise O Compatriots’ anthem or nothing at all.

A video posted on Ms Yesufu’s X page shortly after the president greenlit the ‘Nigeria, We Hail Thee’ anthem showed her sitting comfortably at a function and leafing through the pages of a magazine where other attendees stood to sing the new anthem.

“#NotMyNationalAnthem” was Ms Yesufu’s caption for the video, which gathered over two million views on X.

In other videos, the activist contended that given the country is battling its worst economic and security crises, the government had more pressing issues requiring immediate attention and action than reverting to the previously old anthem.

Amid heated debates on whether it was right or wrong to disregard the national anthem brazenly, Ms Ezekwesili threw her weight behind Ms Yesufu.

The former minister insisted that “whenever and wherever the national anthem is called for, I shall continue to sing #AriseOCompatriots as #MyNationalAnthem.”

“Definitely #NotMyNationalAnthem as I already publicly conveyed,” the 61-year-old former minister tweeted.

She accused Mr Tinubu and the Senate of not following due process to amend the legislation.

“The lawmakers @nassnigeria and the @NGRPresident grievously breached the constitutional provisions and process for amendment of legislation and therefore cannot foist another national anthem on us,” Ms Ezekwesili stated in June. “I refuse to join them in the Kangaroo Act of violating the Constitution.”

Should the parliament pass the bill and the president assents to it, the government might have good grounds to prosecute Mses Ezekwesili and Yesufu if they refuse to sing the anthem.