A Brief History of the Faces on Nigerian Paper Notes

Often regarded as the giant of Africa, Nigeria is an oil rich country in West Africa. Nigeria gained independence from Great Britain on October 1st 1960 and became a republic on October 1st 1963. Today, with a population of over 200 million people, Nigeria is the most populous black nation on earth.

In 1973, about 13 years after independence, Nigeria introduced Naira as its own currency to replace the British pound. This made Nigeria the last British colony to replace the pound. In the early 1970s, the Naira was stronger than the Us dollars, exchanging at 1 naira per two dollars. However, due to corruption and economic mismanagement, one US dollars now exchanges for about 365 Naira at the official exchange rate.

Presently, Nigeria has eight denominations of her currency in paper notes. Permit me to give a brief history of the faces of the people on these papers notes. I will start from the lowest denomination to the highest denominations.

1. The 5 Naira Note

The 5 Naira note carries the face of Late Alhaji Tafewa Balewa the first prime minister of Nigeria. Unfortunately, Tafawa Balewa was assassinated during the first military coup in Nigeria.

2. The 10 Naira Note

The 10 Naira note carries the face of Alvan Ikoku who was a seasoned educator and politician. He was very active in the early fight against colonialism and British imperialism.

3. The 20 Naira note

The 20 Naira note carries the face of the late Murtala Mohammed, a former military Head of State who was assassinated in a failed coup led by B.S Dimka. The busiest airport in Nigeria, located in Lagos, is also named after Murtala Mohammed.

4. The 50 Naira Note

The 50 Naira note carries the faces of three men and one woman. The exact owners of the faces are not known. However, the three men represent the major tribes of Nigeria namely: Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba. While the woman represents the people of the middle belt. The choice of these faces were decided to foster unity in Nigeria after the civil war.

5. The 100 Naira note

The 100 naira note bears the face of the late sage, Obafemi Awolowo, a nationalist and prominent politician. Awolowo is credited to have introduced free education in the Western region of Nigeria.

6. The 200 Naira note

The 200 naira note bears the face of late Sir. Amadu Bello the first premier of the Northern region of Nigeria. He was the founder of, the NPC, one of the earliest political parties in Nigeria. He was assassinated during the first military coup in Nigeria in January 1966.

7. The 500 Naira Note

The 500 naira bears the face of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, a nationalist, journalist, and politician. Azikiwe is known for founding the West African Pilot, a militant newspaper used to fight colonialism and advance the quest for self government.

8. The 1000 Naira Note

The 1000 Naira note bears the faces of two men, namely: Dr. Clement Nyong Isong and Alhaji Aliyu Mai-Bornu. They were the first two governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria. Clement Isong, who later became the first governor of Cross River State, succeeded Alhaji Aliyu Mai-Bornu as the second governor of the Central Bank.

Images source
Images source

Thanks for reading through this post, kindly support my work by upvoting this post. Thank you.