Nigeria President Obasanjo Launches Re-Designed Currencies In 3 Ethnic Group

Dear dollarsforum,Here is a surprising News To so many Nigerian that are yet to understand Why CBN launch New Faces OF Naira in(Abuja)i hope you will enjoy this news!!! President Olusegun Obasanjo on Wednesday February 28, 2007 in Abuja, launched the redesigned naira notes and new coins, with a charge to Nigerians to handle them with as much care and respect as that given to the national flag.The notes are in the N5, N10, N20 and N50, while the coins are in 50 kobo, N1, and N2 denominations.Africa 2007President Obasanjo, who condemned the acts of spraying and stepping on currency notes at social functions, expressed admiration for the plastic (polymer substrate) material used for the new notes, hoping it would encourage government's clean note policy.He commended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for using the three major languages on the notes, thus making the currency truly Nigerian, expressed the hope that the law would in future allow the use of more languages.Obasanjo also hailed the use of the portrait of a renowned female traditional potter, the late Chief (Dr.) Ladi Kwali, on one of the notes. Said the gender-sensitive President, "I salute the CBN for celebrating a woman on our currency."He appealed to Nigerians to accept and use the new coins and notes.Governor of CBN, Prof. Charles Soludo, who presented the new coins and notes to the President and members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), disclosed that they were produced at half the previous production costs and conform with international best practices like other world currencies.He disclosed that the cost of printing the notes has gone down by 50 per cent while that of minting the coins has reduced by 60 per cent.Aside the cost, Soludo noted that a solution had to be found to the problem of persistently dirty notes, low use/patronage of coins due to weight, which is why, he noted, the new notes and coins are more user-friendly, smaller in size, tear- and stain-free, and lighter in weight.He also explained that Wednesday's launch was the first phase of the currency reforms, as the second phase will involve the higher denominations.Relevant LinksWest AfricaNigeriaCurrenciesHe advised members of the public to exchange their old notes and coins for the new ones at any commercial bank between now and May 31st but that the old ones would remain legal tender for the next three months.At another launch held in the banking hall of the Abuja branch of the CBN, the apex bank governor also advised commercial banks across the country to ensure that coins constitute 20 per cent of their currency transactions. The new currencies, he said, were printed 50 per cent locally by the Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Company Limited (NSPMC) and 50 per cent abroad by De La Rue, France.Soludo posited that the introduction of the new currency marks a new era in the Nigerian Payment System. Critism are welcome!!! AdminCopyright © 2007 Nigeria First. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). Click here to contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material. AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
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