I composed NYSC anthem, not Oluwole Adetiran – Frederick Nwosu

Professor Frederick Nwosu, President of International Institute for African Scholars, United States, has said he is the composer of the National Youth Service (NYSC) anthem, and not the late Oluwole Adetiran.

Nwosu who made the clarification in a letter to Punch Newspaper, in response to a report attributing the composition of the anthem to Adetiran upon his passing earlier in the year, explained that while a former colleague of his called Deji wrote the wordings of the anthem, it was he who composed same.

The letter titled, RE: YOUR STORY ON THE NYSC ANTHEM COMPOSER, reads, “May I first commiserate with the family of Oluwole Adetiran whose death your newspaper reported on Thursday, July 14, 2022. May his soul rest in perfect peace.

“Your newspaper reported that “The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Thursday, condoled with the Adetiran family on the demise of the revered clergyman, Oluwole Adetiran, 75, whom he described as an accomplished musicologist.

“Buhari’s condolence message is contained in a statement signed on Thursday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, titled ‘President Buhari mourns Adetiran, composer of NYSC anthem.’ According to Adesina, ‘The President urges the family to take solace in the quality of life lived by the departed, having left his footprints in the sands of time as the composer of the NYSC Anthem, sung round the country, and inspiring innumerable youths.’

“‘…composer of NYSC anthem’? It is important for me to truly understand the said news item because it is confusing to me.

“In 1983, I reported for national service at the NYSC Secretariat in Ibadan. I was deployed as a Lecturer to the Oyo State College of Education that was at the time using the Methodist College campus at Elekuro, Ibadan. I also created and hosted a television program called “IGBO BY TELEVISION” at the TSOS studios and taught Igbo Language on the show.

“During my service year, 1983/84, there was an announcement for Youth Corps members to submit entries for the NYSC Anthem. I submitted a martial piece that I carefully composed as a professional musician who composed and released “Everybody Must Farm” which reigned across the country during Operation Feed the Nation, Green Revolution, and MAMSER.

“I submitted my martial music entry. After all the evaluations (wherever the evaluations were done), the report came to us at the Oyo State College of Education, Elekuro from the NYSC Ibadan Secretariat that Oyo State had won the NYSC Anthem Competition. I was invited to the Director’s office and informed that my martial music had won the competition.

“My counterpart called Deji who submitted the words was also informed that his lyrics won the lyrics competition. He and I were asked to work together to teach other youth corps members how to sing the anthem. The NYSC Ibadan Choir consequently was formed.

“Being that I composed the music, I was called upon to teach the tune, and I did. After we had all started singing the anthem, the NYSC Secretariat Ibadan brought in two music graduates (one from the Ibadan Polytechnic and the other from the University of Ibadan) just to convert my composition from the Tonic Solfa to Staff Notation (sheet music) so that they could use instruments to perform the anthem, since we were getting to go to the recording studio to record the anthem.

“One of the young men was called Shobowale. I have forgotten the name of the second person. We (the NYSC Choir members) went to Phonodisk recording studios in Ijebu-Igbo. I sang the lead Treble part. We completed the studio recording and went back to Elekuro, Ibadan. Some years later, I was invited to Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja to an NYSC function. On that occasion, Alhaji Bunu Sheriff Musa (who at the time was among the very first NYSC batch) was the Minister of Mines and Power. The Minister read my citation and shook my hands.

“That was all that I experienced (for which I traveled from Aba to Lagos). I did not complain. I remained positive. For me to hear that “the composer of the NYSC Anthem has died” shocked me since I know myself as the composer while Deji wrote the words.

“Please help me understand your news story because I am alive; still alive, residing in the United States, and working as a university professor as well as the President of the International Institute for African Scholars in the United States. Please find a way to convey the right message so that I am not damaged while still alive.

“Thanking you while I look forward to the correction you are making to this news material.”