Lagos — NIGERIA, indeed, is changing gradually. A lot of the old crust is peeling off, and out is progressively emerging the face of a new nation that is far more pleasant to behold. We still have a long, long way to go. And one means of getting there faster is to get rid of the old class from the political stage. These include the regionalists who still nurture what coupist Major Gideon Orkar described as "dominative tendencies", and the pretender "nationalists" who still see today's Nigeria in terms of the divided battle lines of 1967 - 1970 out of which there were winners and losers and from which a pattern of war booty sharing emerged to haunt us till date.

Evidence of the gradual paradigm shift for the better includes the fact that a democratically elected southerner has run Nigeria for eight years. This is even more intriguing given the fact that there was a voluntary cession of power by the north in 1999. Don't let us go into the hairy details of the role of June 12 in the matter. What we know is that a time came in Nigeria when the north gave up power to the south through a democratic process and a southerner held it for eight years without being dethroned by coup. This was almost difficult to envision some thirty years ago.

Another evidence of this salutary change that pushes this nation closer to genuine unity has manifested in the introduction of the new range of national currencies by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). For the first time in our history what looks very much like the first authentic range of Nigerian currency instruments has been born. These monetary tools, to be formally launched next Wednesday February 28th 2007, will come without the esoteric and exotic Arabic inscriptions, which had, without rhyme or reasons, found their ways into the notes which had been in use before now.

In their place, we are told, are the indigenous official languages of Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba, which, added to the English language, bespeak Nigeria. What I find pleasantly intriguing was that when the CBN Governor, Professor Charles Soludo, took his current sensitisation campaign on the new spending tools to the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar III, he was asked why the Arabic inscriptions were missing. His explanation that the removal of Arabic and its replacement with local Nigerian languages was meant to promote our national unity and cultural heritage did not go down badly with the head of the Muslim community in Nigeria.

A THISDAY report quoted Soludo to have told the Sultan: "As you can see, the Naira is a symbol of our nationalism and our pride. It is pertinent to let you understand that Arabic is not one of our national languages and it was inscribed on the note forty years ago (sic) because majority of the people then can read it in the northern part of the country to the detriment of their counterparts in the south". The Sultan thanked Soludo for the reforms of the CBN, saying that the Caliphate understands what they stand for.

There was a time in this country when going before the Sultan to tell him these words would have been seen as "irreverent" and adding salt to the injury of removing Arabic from our notes. During those ugly days, even the nation's constitution was openly looked down upon in Sultanate quarters as inferior to the Qur'an when, in truth, the Qur'an is the supreme book of faith to Muslims just as the Bible is the supreme book of faith to Christians. Neither the Bible nor the Qur'an is a supreme law or binding book of faith to all Nigerians. Only the constitution is. But we recognise their special places in the hearts psyches of the Nigerian people. Similarly, the mosque or church does not represent a unifying force, but we have adopted the National Mosque and the Christian Ecumenical Centre in Abuja as our national monuments, which all Nigerians are duty-bound to preserve, protect and revere as symbols of our national unity.

Our national currency, the Naira and Kobo, is one of the unifying instruments of Nigeria. Anything found on them ought to reinforce this reality. The Arabic figurines in the expiring currencies have no such appeal to all Nigerians. It was an imposition by hegemonists who did not have the nation's peace and cohesion at heart.

THE English language, just like the Naira and Kobo, remains a major binding force for all Nigerians. And the three major languages represent the fairest attempt to integrate the English language with our indigenous values. Those who find relevance in the use of Arabic in their cultural intercourses should feel free to continue with it. Those who wish to study it as one of their pet foreign languages such as Chinese, French and what have you, are free to do so. But no further attempt should be made to impose it on all Nigerians as one of our national values. The truth is this: it is not!