Truly, I am disturbed. I have asked multiple questions to know why or the meaning of this/these Arabic word(s) on our currencies but disappointedly, none has provided me with a half answer let alone a whole. Frankly, I'm not trying to incite religious hatred but why would it be written in Arabic instead of English,Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa?

Let somebody help please.

sir those are Hausa figures written in Arabic and since Hausa's were in power when the currencies where designed they probably made their choice to write on our currency in arabiyya

So Five naira still dey

Naira Dari biyar, Naira dari, Naira dubu and Naira biyar. It is not Arabic per se but Ajami Arabic which is when hausa language is written in Arabic letters, I believe it was used because the Hausa people have been using this method of writing for hundreds of years, and even those that are not educated are believed to be able to read this.

I see people saying because Hausa's that are not educated can be able to read it. So what happens to Igbo's, ijaws, urhobos, Yoruba's, etc that aren't educated.

This is how Nigeria keep spoon feeding these Hausa's/Fulani's yet they show no appreciation. .

bonechamberlain:
I see people saying because Hausa's that are not educated can be able to read it. So what happens to Igbo's, ijaws, urhobos, Yoruba's, etc that aren't educated.
This is how Nigeria keep spoon feeding these Hausa's/Fulani's yet they show no appreciation. .

Seriously, I do not understand at all. In a country that has three major ethic groups. For me, none should be given presidential treatment in the absence of the rest.

More pictures

I came across this explanation, I think it helps give an overview(source below);
The only reason an Arabic inscription is, in combination with English, on Nigeria's currency today is the influence of history.

It has been so from the very first time paper currency was printed for Nigerian use (either for British or indigenous Traders). Before the Nigerian pound (replaced in 1973 by Naira and Kobo), the old West African Currency Board (WACB) pound (also known as West African Pound (WAP)) was in use, first from 1913 in restricted distribution, and then more generally from 1946 until 1959 in Nigeria, 1957 in Ghana, 1965 in Gambia and 1964 in Sierra Leone. Liberia also used the currency until 1943 when it changed to the U.S. dollar. British Southern Cameroon used it too, until the plebiscite of 1961.

The WAP - from which the post-independence currencies of Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Gambia were derived - also had Arabic inscriptions on it.

The original reason for Arabic was that Frederick Lugard (who was the first Commander of the West African Frontier Force (1897 - 99) and later the first High Commissioner of Northern Nigeria (1899 - 1906); and later the Governor of the protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria (1912 - 1914); and finally the first Governor General of post-amalgamation Nigeria (1914 - 1919 ); identified Arabic the only written "indigenous" language anywhere in Nigeria/West Africa, particularly among the widely spread Hausa trader class across the region. (See Lugard report to Parliament, 1919) Arabic inscriptions were, therefore, used as symbols, not only for currency but even on official West African Frontier Force badges etc... which persist until today in Nigerian Army badges etc...

In the mind of the British colonial administrators in Nigeria - whose administrative experience was heavily influenced by their military service in Northern Nigeria and other parts of the sahel belt of West Africa - rightly or wrongly, Arabic writing was to West Africa as Latin was to Europe. In addition to English, therefore, they used Arabic to domesticate British instruments meant for local use. The fact that such symbols still exist is one of many scars of the era of colonial rule. However, not all former British West African colonies still use Arabic translations on their currencies as a footnote to history. Nigeria and Gambia do. Ghana and Sierra Leone do not
http://www.gamji.com/nowa/nowa104.htm

stansaintly:


Seriously, I do not understand at all. In a country that has three major ethic groups. For me, none should be given presidential treatment in the absence of the rest.

welcome to Nigeria, its the same way they use quota system to destroy ingenuity in this strange country.