The immediate past Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has warned Nigerians against inscribing the coat of arms on the national flag, calling it an abuse of the national colours.
Fashola stated this during a live broadcast on Channels Television on Monday. The programme tagged, “Empowering Tomorrow: A New Vision for Nigeria” is a special programme commemorating Nigeria’s 63rd anniversary of independence, which is observed yearly on October 1.
Fashola stated, “Just this afternoon (Monday), I was asked to hoist a flag of Nigeria. By the time the flag unfurled, I saw that there was a coat of arms in the middle and I whispered to my host that ‘this is not the flag of Nigeria’. Nigeria’s flag does not have a coat of arms in the middle. It is green, white, and green.”
The former minister also stated that Nigerians should pay attention to “some of the small things that matter,” and that national symbols should be displayed during official occasions for the country as a whole.
“When I was in primary school, these were the symbolisms of those Independence Day parades, Children’s Day parades, and this was how we were taught to stand up or maintain our position whenever we heard Nigeria’s national anthem being rendered,” Fashola said.
“You sit today and you shudder in your skin what happens today, what people have been taught when the national anthem is rendered.”
The former Lagos governor also spoke out against singing the national anthem “at every little event,” including when the President arrives at a social function, claiming that it should be performed as a symbol of the country’s sovereignty.
“I have had cause to ask people not to sing the anthem for me, either as governor or minister, because I’m not a sovereign. It’s a projection of our minds,” he said.
“These are, for me, the important things to talk about and that’s why I say this anniversary provides an opportunity for reflection and, indeed, inflexion.”
