…Urges Nigerians to stop abusing naira
Uche Usim, Abuja
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Tuesday urged Nigerians not to abuse or mutilate the naira as it remains a national pride and identity symbol.
The Deputy Governor, Corporate Services of the apex bank, Mr. Edward Lamatek Adamu, made the call in Abuja at CBN’s 2018 International Museum Day celebrations where he also unveiled a currency museum. Adamu, while pleading with Nigerians to handle the naira with utmost care, said defacing and abusing the currency was eroding the nation’s pride globally.
He said, “the naira as a symbol of our national pride should not be sprayed or stepped on, should not be squeezed, defaced or stained. The naira should not be sold or counterfeited.”
On the essence of exhibiting Nigeria’s past and present currencies in the bank’s museum, Mr. Edward Adamu noted that, “the exhibition explores the currency in terms of its life cycle from conception to the end of its life otherwise known as the birth to death of bank notes.”
The exhibition, he said, is “an opportunity for Nigerians to know how the notes come about from conception to its final resting place or its end product, which are recycled products. All these activities are contained in the exhibition.”
Adamu said it is impossible to understand the role of museums without taking into account all the connections to culture, their inherent arts, their communities and their environment.
The CBN Deputy Governor said, “thanks to technology, Nigerian museums can now reach beyond their core audience and find new publics through hyper connectivity.” Hyper connectivity, he disclosed, “is a term coined in 2001 to describe the multiple means of communication such as we have today like face to face contact, instant messaging, telephone, among others, in the hyper connected world of today, museums have joined the trend.