Land of the Rising Sun (anthem)

Land of the Rising Sun
	Sheet music
	National anthem of Biafra
Lyrics	Nnamdi Azikiwe
Music	Jean Sibelius
Adopted	1967
Relinquished	1970
Audio sample
	"Land of the Rising Sun" file; help;

Land of the Rising Sun was the proclaimed national anthem of the secessionist African state of Biafra, formerly known as Eastern Region, Nigeria. The lyrics were written by Nnamdi Azikiwe,^[1] and the tune was adopted from Jean Sibelius' "Finlandia", as Biafran president C. Odumegwu Ojukwu enjoyed the musical works of Sibelius.^[2]^[3]

Lyrics

Land of the rising sun, we love and cherish,
Beloved homeland of our brave heroes;
We must defend our lives or we shall perish,
We shall protect our lives from all our foes;
But if the price is death for all we hold dear,
Then let us die without a shred of fear.

Hail to Biafra, consecrated nation,
O fatherland, this be our solemn pledge:
Defending thee shall be a dedication,
Spilling our blood we’ll count a privilege;
The waving standard which emboldens the free
Shall always be our flag of liberty.

We shall emerge triumphant from this ordeal,
And through the crucible unscathed we’ll pass;
When we are poised the wounds of battle to heal,
We shall remember those who died in mass;
Then shall our trumpets peal the glorious song
Of victory we scored o’er might and wrong.

Oh God, protect us from the hidden pitfall,
Guide all our movements lest we go astray;
Give us the strength to heed the humanist call:
To give and not to count the cost’ each day;
Bless those who rule to serve with resoluteness,
To make this clime a land of righteousness.

References

^ Obiwu (1 November 2007). "The Pan-African Brotherhood of Langston Hughes and Nnamdi Azikiwe". Dialectical Anthropology. 31 (1): 143–165. doi:10.1007/s10624-007-9029-2. ISSN 1573-0786.
^ "Biafra – nationalanthems.info". Retrieved 27 April 2021.
^ McFadden, Robert D. (2011-11-26). "Odumegwu Ojukwu, Breakaway Biafra Leader, Dies at 78". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-08-24.

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[1] Obiwu (1 November 2007). "The Pan-African Brotherhood of Langston Hughes and Nnamdi Azikiwe". Dialectical Anthropology. 31 (1): 143–165. doi:10.1007/s10624-007-9029-2. ISSN 1573-0786.

[2] "Biafra – nationalanthems.info". Retrieved 27 April 2021.

[3] McFadden, Robert D. (2011-11-26). "Odumegwu Ojukwu, Breakaway Biafra Leader, Dies at 78". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-08-24.

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