Former Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi claimed that Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, had assured him that the Arabic lettering known as “Ajami” will remain on the redesigned Naira notes.
Since he announced the redesign of the N200, N500, and N1000 notes, some Nigerians have called for the Arabic lettering to be kept or removed. Some contend that because it is not an official language, it should not be included on Nigeria’s legal tender; nevertheless, others think it must be kept on the naira notes.
Former Central Bank governor Sanusi told Daily Nigerian that CBN governor Godwin Emefiele had guaranteed him that the Arabic lettering would remain on the new naira notes.
‘‘There has been speculation going round about the change of some Naira notes. I heard various scholars commenting, with some implying that the Ajami on the Naira notes would be removed.
I want to use this medium to authoritatively confirm to the Muslim ummah that there are no such plans. Since the issue came up, we have spoken to some people in the Central Bank, and they confirmed to me that such a plan is non-existent.
“When the misconception becomes widespread, I spoke to the CBN governor himself, and he also confirmed to me that there is no plan whatsoever to remove the Ajami. So, I want to appeal to Islamic scholars to please stop acting on unsubstantiated reports. I know some of the scholars making these comments are doing so without investigating the information brought to them.”
