Soludo’s Stupidity

Ikechi Udegbunam Chukwunonye

I was speaking with an Indian workmate of mine when she said, she had to learn the English language upon migrating from India . Astonished, I pressed for more enlightenment, given her fluency in the language and the status of the English language in the Indian society. Whereupon, she told me, she studied in the Hindu language up to Masters degree due to financial constraints. Academical institutions run in the English language in India , she informed me, are more expensive than those run in Hindu. The one aspect that impressed me was the fact that she studied in the Hindu language up to post-graduate level. To her, the language was a living organism. A sad contrast is found in Nigeria . Nigerians are largely a people infested by a diffident linguistical constitution. Language shapes the sublunary existence of a people. I have often fantasized about the idea of establishing a university in Nigeria run in local languages. The idea would run through series of mental oppositions. To many a Nigerian, the use of local languages is anathema - consigned to primitivism. Our languages should be encouraged. The demeaning attitude towards our languages must cease. Everyone has a stake in it. People grow out of their homes with a poor view of  their languages, unfortunately, instilled in them by their parents .Constitutionally, only three languages are allowed for communication in our National Assembly which is sad.

Central Bank governor, Professor Charles Soludo, missed a golden opportunity to affirm the equality of all Nigerians. By limiting the language inscriptions on the new Naira notes to the  Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo languages, he stoked up  pent up emotions. This act calls, absolutely for our deprecation. While the country puts on a wooden overcoat, while the susurrus of divisions creep up our alley, this decision comes like an inexperienced prey grazing in the full glare of predators. A tenebrous future hangs in the air.

Embracing our languages is a way of founding an identity.

History would record this decision as a most insensitive decision - one that did not take into account the ethnic plurality of the nation. This decision may be hailed as finally enshrining national languages into our system but not at the expense of other ethnicities. This was a wonderful opportunity to incorporate justice and show that Nigeria is capable of fair-play but o la la the same narrow injections were foisted on us. I grew up in an atmosphere where the Hausa language was spoken with great pride. The Hausa language is a creole language. A Kafanchan, friend - who spoke Hausa and English - of mine once told me she couldn’t speak her native Kaduna language. Across the region the story is the same. People surrender their linguistical sovereignty to the Hausa language. The Hausa language is seen as a lingua franca , perhaps because of the perceived access to leadership by the speakers and the imagined advantages that come with speaking the language .There are more than five extinct languages in Nigeria . Economic consideration might be the driving factor of language relinquishment but all languages convey a message.

Children are taught at an early age that English is the only language to self-determination – others should be avoided. People , therefore inherently view their languages with great scorn. Until we underscore the importance of  languages in our polity, a sense of nationhood  would be a forlorn dream. Language is part and parcel of  human make-up. That’s why slaves were made to relinquish their languages. I have curiously asked Jamaicans without success if they at least retain an atom of African languages. To found a sense of nationhood a linguistical cohesion must be built. We must consolidate our knowledge of the English language which has a worldwide appeal and the Hausa language which enjoys a considerable generality. 

This act of government must immediately be revoked in the interest of justice. Language may be dismissed as an inconsequential trivia but one needs to look at the debate the Arabic inscriptions on our notes stirred - the emotions .The non-Muslims might find English more appealing to them than a Muslim inclined to the Arabic language. CBN’s Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Dr Obadiah Mailafia said  the Arabic inscription had been introduced in the colonial era to describe currencies in the Hausa language because people then could not understand the Roman alphabet ( Source:Britain Nigeria Business Council, news reports, February 2007). People are anxious to beam an accurate picture to outside world. They fear the Arabic inscriptions portray Nigeria , as an Islamic country. I wrote an article sometime ago titled Ethnic Minorities, Justice and Languages; in the article, I exhorted the need to embrace all languages. I argued that people might be drawn to armed struggle if their languages are not recognized, because stripping people of their language steals a part of their humanity. Limping can never qualify as walking, so every component of a man must be recognized.

When I was a kid, I used hear people extol the virtues of accommodation around me. People would say that a house is where peace is found against the turbulent tides of the outside world - so decorum must always be maintained within. The troubles of the outside world cease on entering one's house. Soludo should have known the role houses and land play in Igbo cosmology. He must have known the average Igbo man’s desire to own a house because it confers a sense of fulfillment. In the average Igbo man’s psyche ownership of house instills a sense of sanity and fulfillment. A man is not a man until he builds or buys a house. He can have all the money in the world but if he doesn’t own a house  he calls home, he is disrespected . He could ride the best cars in the world; he would still be treated with scorn. Land is a very important asset to the Igbo – it could be seen in Nigerian movies. Any attempt to strip an Igbo man of his land naturally registers vengeance, because you accuse him of impotence. The thinking behind this belief is that property ownership ensures the fulfillment of humanhood. It gives a soothing completion to existence. Hence every Igbo man retires home from work to the raving reception of his wife and children. 

He has chosen to deny or be a party to denying people that sense of belonging and homecoming. That sense of ownership pride. Pity…

 References

Robot  Villager

# 1 Central Bank governor, Professor Charl...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 03.03.2007 06:45

Papino  Villager

# 2 I cannot understand where this writer is driving to!!Would you rather have every ethnic language in Nigeria-about 250 of them- inscribed on the Naira notes? Posted by Papino| 03.03.2007 08:46

I Love Nigeria  Villager

# 3 Soludo Solutions & Economic Reforms in Nigeria http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/paul-adujie/soludo-solutions-economic-reforms-in-ni.html Prior to Professor Suludo’s reforms in the banking sector, it was the case that the banking industry in Nigeria was populated by individuals who used their personal fortunes and connections to establish or float banks, banks which were banks in names only! Banks which some individual founders used as if, it were their personal safe deposit box, banks which were never treated any regard or respect by the founders. These banks were banks that were unknown outside the town or city of its founders. These banks were for the most part, banks intended to facilitate the personal ego, and self aggrandizement of founders and their “business” these “banks” practiced no banking in the true essence of the word. These banks observed little or no banking practices and procedures or ethics that are usually the customs and traditions of bankers in Nigeria and elsewhere in the world. Expectedly, most of these banks wounded up in bankruptcies and monumental failures. These were banks, which acted, as if pointedly, to eschew best business practices! When these banks failed, Nigerian depositors bore the brunt the egregious practices which were pervasive within the banking industry at the time. Anyone familiar with my commentaries on Nigerian issues would probably remember my views on our national currency the Naira, which I have argued in the past, as undervalued and devalued or have been allowed to be in free-falls for more than twenty years! This is in part, due to foreign exchange dealer-banks’ collusions and conniving profiteering. Hence there continued to be huge banking profits in the midst of zero production capacity in Nigeria as witnessed in the preceding twenty-years plus! No one, not even me, would of course blame Professor Soludo for Naira’s free-falls! After all, he is new, relatively, at the helms of Nigeria’s apex bank and, banker to bankers. We are quite aware of the enormous challenges with which he contends Posted by I Love Nigeria| 03.03.2007 08:53

Showcase  Villager

# 4 Maybe it is me, but there are things I don't get in your article here. It appears to be contradictory and unrealistic. You wrote, and I quote: "CBN’s Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Dr Obadiah Mailafia said the Arabic inscription had been introduced in the colonial era to describe currencies in the Hausa language because people then could not understand the Roman alphabet." That is to say that we do not need the arabic inscriptions on the currencies anymore. Good. "To many a Nigerian, the use of local languages is anathema - consigned to primitivism. Our languages should be encouraged." This is exactly why they have removed the arabic inscriptions and replaced them with inscriptions in the local languages. "By limiting the language inscriptions on the new Naira notes to the Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo languages, he stoked up pent up emotions." Your solution? The national currencies should bear inscriptions in the over 250 languages in Nigeria. How feasible is that? You will need currency notes as wide as an A4 sheet to contain inscriptions in all our local languages! Posted by Showcase| 03.03.2007 09:00

blondie  Villager

# 5 I do not understand this write-up; period! On one hand this writer is happy with an Indian that studied up to post graduate level in Hindu. On the other hand I cannot say that he is happy that Arabic language was removed from the notes. Please can someone explain to me what he is saying about Igbo people and land. Maybe I am too groggy from sleep this Saturday morning to understand. Posted by blondie| 03.03.2007 10:10

tboy  JJC

# 6 Chukwunonye Ikechi Udegbunam, I think you should try to be objective. How can 250 languages be inscribed on a few Naira notes? Maybe what you would like to advocate is that every ethnic group should have its own currency.confused1:confused1 (Please clarify) We need to put Ideas like this behind us in order to move this country forward. I look forward to coming home and not having to spend mutilated naira notes. And to the central bank gov, I SAY JOB WELL DONE SIR. Posted by tboy| 03.03.2007 10:52

tanibaba  Villager

# 7 Soludo is not stupid. Indeed he is one of the finest minds that Nigeria has produced and what he has done to reform our currency is commendable. Must we bring ethnicity to every issue under the sun. And if we must is it not true that there are classifications e.g majority and minority. This is a fact that you must accept and every country has its own share of majority and minority depending on the subject that you are considering. And if you have taken time out to study the subject upon which you wrote this piece you would have discovered that there are images on our notes representing some of the minority tribes in Nigeria. Therefore if we agree that Soludo is not stupid, then the title of this piece is a misnomer taslim Posted by tanibaba| 03.03.2007 12:47

Bunch17  Villager

# 8 In as much as I support the removal of Arabic from the Naira notes, I strongly believe that an error was made in replacing it with local languages. Are we going to have all languages in every note or would each denomination have a different language? If yes which language will be on the largest denomination of the currency and which would be on the lowest denomination? Is there any significance to this arrangements? Imagine the "fights" that happen over this issue. Posted by Bunch17| 03.03.2007 13:00

felix  Villager

# 9 All the nearly 300 different languages in Nigeria effectively reprsented in a currency note???...For not doing this, Soludo is stupid???....How big is the currency note going to be??How about going a step further to show how this can be achieved without the final product looking "stupid"?.....Ikechi my brother,..I have to be blunt with you,..yours is a STUPID idea!!! Posted by felix| 03.03.2007 13:20

katampe  Villager

# 10 I think Soludo wasn't smart enough. it is not a fair deal to subject the rights of the minority to that of the majority.There has to be some balancing act. In Nigeria, we have many languages going extinct, we have many ethnic minorities that other ethnicities in Nigeria survive on their lands and their oil. It would have made sense to reflect probably the ethnic minorities that have paid more of the unity of the country on the notes. In the Niger Delta, the Ijaws, the Urhobos, the Ogonis , the itshekiris , or others would have been okay. In the middle belt, the Gwaris , the Nupes and others that their lands where acquired to allow for a national capital ; and finally some other ethnic group that development hasn't reached their area , for example those still going naked in Nigeria, or even Bakassi might have been included. This proposal allows the issue of extinction, deprivation and acquisition as a guiding principle and places it forever on our consciousness. The three major ethnic groups however we dice it, will be around for a long time, I mean their language and population would continue to increase. And they will continue to wield political, economic and social influence. They should not have been placed on the Naira. Honestly, I think Soludo lacks consciouness. His decision wasn't a good move and not very original. It serves no purpose and has no guiding philosophy behind it. Bad decsion if you ask me . If I was Central Bank Governor, I would have sought a situation where the worst off within the Nigerian federation were given more visibility. Hausas, Ibos and the Yorubas are already all over the place, their languages are well spoken. What else do they need. This is a very bad decision. Posted by katampe| 03.03.2007 14:23

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