The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has blamed the Benin Football Federation for the wrong national anthem that was played before the Super Eagles took on the Cheetahs on Monday, June 10.
Super Eagles of Nigeria had to sing the old anthem, “Arise, O Compatriots” instead of the “Nigeria, We Hail Thee” ahead of their game against Benin at the Felix Houphouët-Boigny stadium in Abidjan, Benin Republic’s adopted home ground.
Note that the “Nigeria, We Hail Thee” anthem was used from 1960 when Nigeria gained independence until it was replaced by “Arise, O Compatriots” in 1978.
But the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu reintroduced it in May 2024 to replace “Arise, O Compatriots”.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria sang the reintroduced anthem before their 1-1 draw with the Bafana Bafana of South Africa on Friday, June 7. But they found themselves singing the just replaced “Arise, O Compatriots” before their 2-1 defeat to Benin Republic on June 10.
However, while the Super Eagles were coming out for the second half of the game, the reintroduced anthem ushered them onto the pitch.
After the disappointing defeat, NFF’s Director of Media and Communications, Ademola Olajire, explained that the football federation had handed a recording of the new national anthem to the Benin FA authorities at the Match Coordination Meeting in Abidjan on Sunday.
Also, a statement from NFF’s Head of International Competitions, Dayo Enebi Achor, confirmed that the federation had given the recording of the new anthem to the Benin FA.
“We gave them the recording of our new national anthem, only for them to play the wrong one at the beginning of the match. We protested strongly and insisted that the Super Eagles would not start the second half until the new national anthem of Nigeria was played,” he said.
