Sunday, January 23, 2005

Arabic Inscriptions On The Naira

Sir: For several years now, the Nigerian naira notes of N5, N10, N20, N50, N100, N200 and the newest of them- N500, have been carrying Arabic inscriptions which cannot be read or interpreted by most Nigerians. It is my opinion that, the silence over this is not healthy for us as a federation or secular state.

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The Nigerian currency like any other national symbolic item, is the pride of Nigerians anywhere in the world; it should therefore be handled with all dignity and respect. Recently, I was approached by a curious individual (nationality irrelevant), who wanted to know the meaning of the inscription written in Arabic on the N100 note. Sorry enough, I could not be of any help to her.

I was truly ashamed of my helplessness. The outcome of our brief encounter made me take a quick look at other currency notes. I discovered they all had different Arabic inscriptions which were also meaningless to me. At this point, it should be stressed to those in authority that, the present democratic setting of the country should be well directed to correct some major errors or deliberate actions of some of our past and present leaders, so we could forge ahead as an indivisible entity.

Today, in Nigeria, English Language is the official communication medium amongst all Nigerians. Only recently, the French Language was adopted; but this has not really been established. Arabic on the other hand, is not our national communication medium; therefore, it should not appear on what concerns the entire nation. Why should our currency notes bear a writing that cannot be read or interpreted by all average schooled Nigerians? I think this is wrong and should be corrected immediately if there is truly no hidden material fact tied to the Arabic writing on these notes which has been the case for a long while now.

This country is not an Islamic State and does not belong to only those who can read and write the Arabic language. English Language stands as the communication link amongst all of us. Nigeria as a country, is for all Nigerians and not for a particular group of individuals. Do the Arabic inscriptions have any religious connotations which are not known to most Nigerians? Are they meant to satisfy the yearnings and demands of a particular group or sect in Nigeria?
If the answer to these questions is an emphatic yes, then, the foundation of our existence as a nation and the belief that we are one does not hold water any more. This is deceitful, sheer injustice and a way of undermining the place and dignity of other ethnic groups/dialects in the Nigerian configuration.

However, if there is nothing to worry about, then the Arabic inscriptions are overdue. The spots they occupy on our naira notes could as well begin to carry Efik, Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Afemi, Kalabari. etc inscriptions on a rotational basis, to show our diversity to the world. I think this will look beautiful.

Stephen Irinyemi,
Lagos.