Nigeria argues over the writing on its banknotes
MALCOLM OMIRHOBO is no stranger to the Federal High Court in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. A human-rights lawyer, he is well-known for filing suits against the government, including one for not releasing his ten-year-old son’s exam results. His latest case has created an especially loud buzz. He is arguing that Arabic script (known as Ajami when used to write non-Arabic languages) on certain Nigerian banknotes violates the country’s secular constitution. He wants it removed. He may also petition the army to delete an invocation in Arabic on its flag.
With perhaps 200m people and 350-plus languages and ethnic groups, Nigeria is a mosaic of cultures. A century ago the British amalgamated the three biggest groups under one administration—Hausa-Fulani in the mainly Muslim north, Yoruba and Igbo in the mainly Christian south—despite each having its own traditions and history. Ethnicity and religion have often clashed, especially in Nigeria’s central area, known as the Middle Belt.
Ajami and other Arab influences have long stirred up arguments over Nigeria’s identity. In the early 2000s a dozen northern states imposed sharia (Islamic law). In 2007 the central bank replaced Ajami with Roman letters on lower-denomination notes of the naira, Nigeria’s...