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[center]Nigeria National Pledge, Now A National Joke[/center]?
Have you ever watched The Star-Spangled Banner being sang or the United States Pledge of Allegiance being recited? Chances are you have and you were moved with the passion and emotions they always convey. You’ve probably watched movies or documentaries depicting soldiers daring their lives and often laying them down to honor the US flag during intense battles. I used the US as an example but you may see the same passion by citizens of many other countries for their national symbols. Can you try to make a comparison with what you see these days when the Nigerian National Anthem is being sang or the National Pledge recited? How many times have you been at a gathering where the National Anthem is being sang or national pledge being recited and some people seem to be completely unaware and doing their own things?
I write this article with sadness and every sense of responsibility. I still remember with nostalgia those times when as primary school pupils, we would with reverence and pride, stand still wherever we are once the national anthem is being sang always followed by the National Pledge. These days many Nigerians cannot correctly say the words of the National Anthem and National Pledge. There have been TV shows that embarrassingly show people in top positions who could not recite them.
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http://bluestocker.com/nigeria-national-pledge-now-a-national-joke/

Created in 1976 by Prof (Mrs.) Felicia Adebola Adedoyin and promulgated into a degree that same year by then then military government of General Olusegun Obasanjo, The National Pledge was to be recited by all school children daily during their assemblies. The pledge is said along aside the National Anthem as a promise to The Fatherland in national and public matters but it has become just a mere ritual now!
Take a look at the words below and think for a minute how many of us still strive to keep the pledge.
THE NATIONAL PLEDGE
I pledge to Nigeria, my country
To be faithful, loyal and honest,
To serve Nigeria with all my strength,
To defend her unity and uphold
Her honor and glory.
So help me God.
Hasn’t The National Pledge become national joke now and we are all responsible for the joke? The exact opposite of these words seem to be all we do and what is celebrated! From the ordinary man on the street to the high and mighty in the helms of government affairs, we’ve turn the National Pledge into a national joke. People elected or appointed to positions and who took oaths of offices, brazenly break every word of the National Pledge without a care.
As silly as this may sound, the national pledge should be abandoned altogether or something else recited in its place if we are to keep on our mentality as it is. If we must have this pledge as our National Pledge then let us all sit up and go about our daily activities mindful of the fact that we have a promise to our Fatherland to keep. Like I said, we are all responsible for turning our National Pledge into a national joke and if it is to be of any value again, then we all must work toward it. A train can only move as fast as the head so I believe a reorientation and renewed effort to live The Pledge must start from the top. When the common man sees that people who took oath of office are keeping The Pledge, it will be easier to emulate. Corruption and social injustices will die naturally and the lack of peace which comes with injustice will fade away.

http://bluestocker.com/nigeria-national-pledge-now-a-national-joke/