Mwalimu Solomon Mbaluka, the Chaplain of Utumishi Boys Academy (UBA) in Gilgil, cordially invites me to teach and preach in one of their Sunday services every term. This is in the auspices of the Chief Principal — Dr. Maina Gitonga (PhD). I remain glad and grateful because of such highly-coveted chances: to mentor men of means in the making. Dear reader, the most intriguing thing is, whenever I am chanced to set foot in that top boys’ school sponsored by the Kenya Police Service (KPS), I am always fascinated by their riveting recitation of the hymn: I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb, which the school has adopted as its Church Anthem. All the young men looking sharp like shafts of sunlight, place their hands on the chest, and sing in stentorian voices, while wearing serious faces. Splendid indeed, they do so while standing bolt-upright. As the mood of the room remains solemn. Ideally, I always fall in love with the content of the chorus part of the song. I like it for the message it conveys. Here it goes: I pledge allegiance to the lamb/with all my strength, with all I am/I will seek to honour his commands/I pledge allegiance to the lamb.
In my latest triumphal entries in UBA, I had to think deeply on different types of anthems. And why schools should see sense in teaching them every anthem. Largely, during formal assemblies in schools, students sing the national anthem. Being an orison, they the reason to sing in unison after raising the national flag, which is an emblem of national unity. Being a powerful poem, the national anthem has three stanzas. As a teacher of English with a penchant for poetry and all beautiful expressions of art, when I do it with pizzazz, study the lines and lyrics of our national anthem, I see that its writers, were poets par excellence, for they composed a perfect prayer for the nation agreeing with wise words of William Wordsworth: “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of emotions, recollected in tranquility.” And so, the first stanza of our national anthem goes: O God of all creation, /Bless this, our land and nation. /Justice be our shield and defender, /May we dwell in unity, /Peace and liberty. /Plenty be found within our borders.
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Additionally, some schools also encourage students to chant the East African Community anthem to make them see beyond sea, and borders. It is commonly said in Kiswahili, for that is the lingua franca of East Africa. The first stanza goes: Ee Mungu twaomba ulinde/Jumuiya Afrika Mashariki/Tuwezeshe kuishi kwa Amani/Tutimize na malengo yetu. Again, just like the national anthem, we can all see, the East African Community anthem is a rendition that is a perfect petition. It is a heartfelt request for God to protect the East African counties and its autochthons. Likewise, it is a powerful prayer for God to help us live in this place in peace, as we accomplish our tasks. So, when we make students understand the meaning of such wonderful words, they will strive to arrive at good and golden deeds. This is important because you must have seen how sheer ignorance and utter arrogance on social sites drive our young people to pelt people from other counties with insults just because of big bigotry.
Moreover, schools with heroic culture and traditions have customised their own anthems. The anthems are old but good indeed; for they came into existence right at the start. Meaning, when current students sing those anthems and think deeply about the lovely lines therein, they think about the culture principles, values, virtues, ideas and ideals envisioned by the founders at the point of provenance.
Furthermore, as an academic consultant in schools in over 40 counties, there is something we keep telling Heads of Institutions (HoIs) to adopt as part of best academic practices. While commissioning Form Four candidates to run the last lap with great grace, we advise schools to coin class identities, which capture: School or class target, class scripture slogan, song and class anthem.
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When they sing songs and chant slogans of valour and victory, they imbue themselves with enough energy and enthusiasm. This helps them overcome failure hence access success. For it was Winston Churchill who told us, “Success is moving from failure to failure without the loss of enthusiasm.” My nearest dearest, I also want you to know that when Form Four candidates chant slogans, sing songs and say anthems together, they demonstrate teamwork. One sage said, TEAM is — Together Everyone Achieves More. As they sing as a class, they build bonds, and become united. Paraphrasing Psalm 133: It is pleasant and sweet for people to dwell unity. And where there is unity, God Almighty commands a blessing. For Form Four candidates, blessings can entice peak performance in KCSE.
Finally, in a nutshell, I can say, all anthems I have cited in this essay, inspire patriotism in people in every society. In most cases, we talk about patriotism when making references to the feeling of love, loyalty, and devotion people evince towards their countries, schools and organisations. Students who show patriotism to their schools, also do so to their country and companies they work for. They begin to do so when they show some respect to the flags and reverence to the anthems. When people do that, they will know why some places in the land are considered sacred. Even when picketing, patriotic people do not vandalise public property or desecrate statues of legends in the land.
By Victor Ochieng’
The writer rolls out talks and training services. vochieng.90@gmail.com. 0704420232
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