Nigeria: The New Naira Notes, Obasanjo, Soludo and Soyinka

column

And so after 40 years of adorning the Arabic inscription, our national currencies are now rid of it to the apparent satisfaction of those who have harboured an obsessive dislike of anything with a link to Islam or the North. Prominent among them must be our one and only Nobel Literature laureate, Wole Soyinka.

In his first press conference on October 16, 1998 after returning from self-exile during General Sani Abacha's tenure, our Nobel laureate, obviously blinded by his hatred of Abacha and everything he thought the general represented, unleashed what was arguably his bitterest diatribe on the North and Islam, its predominant religion. The kernel of his long speech was that the North was the problem with Nigeria. Among its crimes were that the region had imposed Arabic and its coat-of-arms on the country's currencies.

...

AllAfrica publishes around 400 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.