posted
"For those that have eyes let them see and for those that have ears let them hear"
1.Exhanging your Naira for a piece of paper with no international recognition is stupid you rather invest in Gold or Bags of Salt.
2.There is no central bank behind the issue of the Biafran Pound and no international forex market recognises it.
3.The Naira is tried to oil or a state that still exists what is the Biafran Pound tried to? nothing.
4.The distributors of this currency are capitalizing on the lack of information and mass illitracy in Onitsha and are spreading rumours that the UN has approvoved such a currency.
posted
Collectors Item. That money will always appreciate as time passes and I mean the real currency from Bank of Biafra. It is a worth while investment, better than the naira that basically looses value every minute that it is in your pocket.
___________________ Feel me? Ofu onye ana asi unu abia go. - Ednut Igbo-American . www.airamericaradio.com visit her. Posts: 2503 | From: Mother Earth | Registered: Mar 2001
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___________________ The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves... Posts: 775 | From: Valle del Sol, AZ | Registered: Nov 2004
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Since you know all this why is your goverment breaking sweat over worthless currency ? How stupid can a government get ? If only they would pursue the protection of human rights at Apo mechanic village with the same vigour they are showing in protecting these "illiterate" Onitsha people someone might take them seriously.
Unfortunately for you the Biafran currency is even more valued in the western world than what the traders are exchanging it for in Onitsha, and I doubt the babboon you call your president is any more educated than those buying the currency.
Posts: 1534 | From: USA | Registered: Mar 2001
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posted
Chiboy, You failed to make appreciable sense in your castigation of the Nigerian Government for daring to protect the integrity of its sovereignity. No serious government will allow those shenanigans go on unabated, under any circumstance. That the outlawed Igbo currency is of any value in the Western world is deeeply open to suspicion; who knows, this may even be a case of wishful thinking. For all i care, nowhere in any world financial circle is the worthless pound listed as legal tender. QED!!!
___________________ To rid ourselves of all of those other "isms"--racism, classism, ageism, etc.--it is sexism that must first be eradicated.."The Gender Question" Posts: 28 | From: Irvine, California | Registered: Jun 2005
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Biafran pound still being spent ... at Togo, Benin Republic border towns •It’s N270 to Biafran £1•Presidency, CBN, Ohanaeze react
Gbenga Osinaike, just back from Togo and Ghana Additional reports from FESTUS AKANBI, TAJUDEEN SULEIMAN and KUNLE OWOLABI.
Sunday PUNCH June 5, 2005
The currency spent in the defunct Republic of Biafra during the Nigerian civil war (1967-70), Biafran Pound, has surreptitiously crept into the currency market, serving as the legal tender in some communities along the West African coast.
Investigations carried out by Sunday Punch showed that the money is being spent in the border town between Togo and Republic of Benin, while some currency hawkers also exchange it for the naira and other currencies in the border town between Ghana and Togo.
One Biafran pound still bears the signature of Dr. Syvelster Ugo, the then Governor of the Central Bank of the defunct Biafran Republic and the picture of a palm tree. Its back has the coat of arms of the republic with the inscription: “peace, unity and freedom.”
What is, however, baffling about the currency is that it has more value than the Nigerian naira and it is openly accepted as a legal tender in the affected communities.
When Sunday Punch visited the Ghana and Togo border town, known as Aflo, some of the money vendors were eager to sell the currency. They, however, insisted on selling one Biafran pound at N800. The scenario at the Togo/Benin Republic border, known as Helakondi, was different as the vendors willingly sold one pound for between N200 and N270 to our correspondent. Some food vendors in Togo were telling passersby that they were willing to accept Biafran pounds.
In Ghana, the vendors were discreet about the trade. One of them, who identified himself simply as Tony, told our correspondent that the money was not accepted as a legal tender in Ghana, but that Ghana was a transit route for the currency.
He said: "We get the money from some Igbo people in Nigeria. They bring it here for us and we cherish it so much.
“That is why the value is higher than the Nigerian naira. This is the money that is being spent by some Igbo communities in Ivory Coast. Many of them are travellers. On their way to other parts of West Africa, they stop by and exchange the currency for the naira with them. They are the only people who buy the money from us."
Tony, who said he had lived in Ghana for about 15 years, told us that some of the notes were just printed. "I think the Igbo are trying to make a statement with the money. It may surprise you that some of the people, who have the money, are not willing to sell it because they are looking forward to a time when the Biafran Republic will come to stay."
While displaying some ignorance about the defunct Biafran Republic, he said: "I know they are about to create a Biafran Republic. I know it will not be long from now. We are all waiting to see the Republic."
Another vendor, A Ghanaian, who identified himself as Albert Leigh, said the Biafran pound was brought by one Igbo man called Emeka. He said: "It is one Igbo man that brings the money here. Whenever he is travelling, he stops by and hands over the money to money changers. I was fortunate to be around the last time he came and also got my share. What surprises me is that many of the Igbo travellers come to ask of it. I had about 500 pounds with me. I have exchanged everything for naira. I'm now left with one pound. That is the extent the trade has gone."
While disclosing that the Igbo trader brings the money from Lagos, he expressed regrets that he did not have enough to sell to this reporter.
Leigh, however, refused to disclose the cost of procuring the Biafran pound.
On Thursday morning when our reporter visited the Togo/Benin border, the trade in the Biafran currency was still going on.The vendors of the money were, however, agitated when our correspondent made effort to inquire how they got the money.
One of the vendors, who identified himself simply as Isa, a Malian, told Sunday Punch that he got the money from some Nigerians, who pass through the border.
The following coversation took place between him and our reporter:
How are you, sir? I’m fine. I get cefas, naira and pounds, which money you want?
I want Biafran pounds. Do you have it? Yes, I get Biafran pound. It is 270 naira for one pound.
You get plenty of the biafran pounds? I wan buy plenty. Sorry. I no get plenty. The man wen dey bring am never come for a long time now.
Where you dey get the money? Why you dey ask? You wan to buy now?
If I no wan buy, I no go come here? As I dey look you, you know be like person who wan buy.
I wan buym true, true. I just wan to know the source of the money. I no know. No bi Nigerian money. I no understand you self. Why all these questions?
At that point, the man became agitated and aggressive. He said: "Oya comot here! I go call police. Comot!"
He pushed the reporter away and wanted to create a scene before the reporter quietly left the spot for fear of being molested.
A Nigerian resident at the border warned this reporter not to disclose his identity, noting that they could take him for a spy. "Since the political crisis in the country, they have been sceptical about Nigerians. So, don't ever try telling them you are a journalist. Don't ever identify yourself to any of them, they could lynch you. Those of us here have been able to get along with them because we can speak the Togolese language.
“The Malians have also been able to get along with them because they are the ones that you see in this currency business. There are some Igbo too, but they are very few compared to the Malians," he said.
Efforts to ascertain the level of the acceptability of the currency yielded little fruits. This reporter was able to buy a CD cassette from one of the hawkers around the border with one biafran pound, which he had exchanged for naira. He was also able to exchange another 500 pounds for N250 per pound from another hawker of the money.
There are indications that those who trade in the money don't know the implication of doing so.
One of them told Sunday Punch that the money is a Nigerian money. "It is a Nigerian money. That is why I believe in the money. Nigerians brought the money here," he said.
Investigations carried out by our correspondent revealed that the money found its way to the West Coast during the political crisis in Togo. A resident, who pleaded anonymity, told Sunday Punch that he was not aware of the money, but noted that the money was probably introduced during the Igbo Day last year in Togo.
"During the Igbo Day, the Igbo came out with a publication known as Biafran Newspaper. Many of the Igbo resident in Togo bought the newspaper.
“That was when they must have brought the currency. But I can tell you that those who trade in it are selling it to the unsuspecting public"
Attempts to get the Ambassador of Nigeria to Togo, Mr. Aguiyi Ironsi Junior, to comment on the issue did not succeed. When Sunday Punch visited his office in Lome, he was told that the ambassador was busy preparing for the visit of President Olusegun Obasanjo to Togo. Obasanjo, according to one of the aides of the ambassador, "would be visiting Togo on Friday (last week)."
The aide expressed surprise at the Biafran currency, noting that "the issue is a very serious one."
When contacted, the head of the Nigerian community in Kelagonge, the community close to the border, Mr. Uchekchukwu Ezeife, denied any knowledge of such transaction. He, however, promised to investigate the matter. "I don't know of anything like that. I'm not aware of such currency. I have been in this town for the past six years and I have not come across any group or body selling Biafran pound, not to talk of using it as legal tender."
Reacting to the matter, the Senior Presidential Assistant on Public Affairs, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, said the Federal Government is not aware of the development, adding that if the story is true, the currency is not a legal tender anywhere in the world.
He described any transaction in such currency as an “illegal” one and demanded proof that the currency was actually in circulation.
Said he: “The government is not aware of the development. What you have described as the Biafran currency is not a legal tender anywhere in the whole world. It is an illegal transaction and we do not comment on such illegal activities. We need evidence on the Biafran currency and I can assure you that the government will take appropriate actions. If it is true that the currency is in circulation, it must be condemned.
“We have one country (Nigeria) and I don’t think the currency keeps any hope alive for those who till believe in any other country other than Nigeria These people are printing fake money. We can only encourage everybody to keep the hope of one Nigeria alive.”
The Deputy Director, Corporate Affairs of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Tony Ede, said it was likely that people who are using the currency only accept it as a means of exchange, adding that the currency is not a legal tender, if the story of its existence and circulation is true, in the first place.
“It is not a legal tender. May be those people are just using the currency as a means of exchange, but I doubt if the story is correct. There is no currency called “Biafran pound”. So, how will those who accept the Biafran currency recoup their money if they accept the currency as a legal tender? I doubt if it is being used at all. The CBN has not heard about the currency in circulation and does not believe that the Biafran pound exists.
Meanwhile, President of Ohanaeze Youth Council and a former legislator, Nnamdi Nwokwocha, said that reports that Biafran dollars had become a legal tender in some border towns were mere speculations intended to embarrass Nigeria and discredit the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration as incompetent.
Nwokwocha,who reacted to the reports in an interview with Sunday Punch on Saturday, said there was no truth in the report, adding that it was the handiwork of mischief makers, who may want to cash in on the fallout of a recent the United States intelligence report that predicted the disintegration of the country.
“It is not true at all, there’s nothing like that.This is just mere speculations by some mischief makers, it is not true. I think some people are just trying to fly a kite to see what we happen, people who want Obasanjo out of office by all means”, he said.
Asked why Obasanjo’s enemies would fly such a kite, he said it could be to show that the claims of the recent US reports that the country may break up was true.
“You know that the US report said Nigeria may break up. These people may want to use this kind of story to show that the report is true. You also know that the agitation for Biafra is stronger abroad than at home, so they may have started the campaign from abroad”, he said
He said the sponsors of the “rumour” may be people from the South-east who were dissatisfied with the Obasanjo Presidency.
Efforts to get the top echelon of Ohanaeze Ndigbo to speak on the issue did not succeed.The secretary-general of the group, Joe Achusia,said he was not prepared to talk on the phone, and wouldn’t give the reporter an appointment.
“I don’t talk to reporters on telephone,you can check me at the office anytime but I will not give you any appointment”, he said
Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Odimegwu Ojukwu,who has publicly admitted supporting the Biafran agitation, could also not be reached as at press time. His phone was switched off.
quote:That the outlawed Igbo currency is of any value in the Western world is deeeply open to suspicion; who knows, this may even be a case of wishful thinking. – l’avenement
Firstly, it is not an Igbo currency but a Biafran one. Secondly, let’s not even go as far as the ‘western world’. One Biafran Pound exchanges for 270 Naira on Nigeria’s own borders! Wishful thinking? I think not!
quote:For all i care, nowhere in any world financial circle is the worthless pound listed as legal tender. QED!!! – l’avenement
It doesn’t have to be ‘listed’ to be legal tender. As far as it can be offered (+ received) in payment of a debt (which it clearly can as demonstrated above), it possesses all the required qualities. Furthermore, if the Biafran Pound which exchanges for 270 Naira is worthless, then the Nigerian Naira is 270 times more worthless! QED right back at ‘cha!!!
___________________ Free Uwazurike Now!
Now is the winter of our discontent...made glorious summer by this [rising] sun of York. Posts: 325 | From: London | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote: That the outlawed Igbo currency is of any value in the Western world is deeply open to suspicion; who knows, this may even be a case of wishful thinking.
I’avénement
The above can not be in absolute if the idea that conceived the circulation of the Biafran Pound was putting into consideration. Vibrant economy decides it's currency independent of suppressive promulgations and legislation in contra. If the US Dollars is used as parameter, even the United States mortal enemies cannot do without the powerful dollar on their local and international transactions. Where the dollar is out rightly banned, transactions goes underground. Yet, within the same government circle that politicaly rejected the US, you still find them dealing on it's money and depending on it's economy. The amount of dollars that was found on Saddam Hussein and his associates during the collapse of his regime in Iraq serves as practical example.
The Biafran currency in the true sense does not need Nigerian approbation to become a legal tender in the international market; since the Igbo market can support a strong economy on it's own and demonstrate substantial growth in an international competitive arena, dealers has no choice than to accept it's money as legal tender.
___________________ He likened the second coming of Christ to the realisation of the Biafran dream, stating that at a time people least expect, the much sought Biafra would be a reality..Rev. Fr. Cornelius Ezeiloaku Posts: 622 | From: santiago, chile | Registered: Jan 2002
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Igboblood and Okwy, In asmuch as i like to put mysely in your shoes and show deep appreciation for your cause,i am not an inch persuaded that the outlawed Biafran pound is anything but that. The reason Saddam Hussein carriedAmerican dollars on his person cannot be unrelated to convenience, ..convenience of exchange, market acceptability, and transport. Nowhere is the American dollar "banned".The Biafran currency ceased to be legal tender (in those countries that gave recognition to the breakaway Biafran Republic) at the cessation of wartime hostilities(contexually speaking, that is) and for us to begin to debate the validity of such realtime-unworthy(collector's item, no doubt) document is akin to "insurgency" through the back door.
___________________ To rid ourselves of all of those other "isms"--racism, classism, ageism, etc.--it is sexism that must first be eradicated.."The Gender Question" Posts: 28 | From: Irvine, California | Registered: Jun 2005
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Your last entry did not back up your earlier assertions that:
1) The Biafran currency is worthless 2) It is not legal tender
Of course you try to modify your position on Point 2 above by stating that:
quote:The Biafran currency ceased to be legal tender (in those countries that gave recognition to the breakaway Biafran Republic) ….- l'avenement
Since when did acceptance by particular countries become an issue?
quote: Nowhere is the American dollar "banned".- l'avenement
You are wrong. What about the possession of American Dollars once being illegal in Cuba (probably still is)? Does that mean the dollar is no longer legal tender?
While we are on the subject of dollars, you write:
quote: The reason Saddam Hussein carriedAmerican dollars on his person cannot be unrelated to convenience, ..convenience of exchange, market acceptability, and transport - l'avenement
And why exactly do you think people carry Biafran Pounds in the border towns???
quote: and for us to begin to debate the validity of such realtime-unworthy(collector's item, no doubt)…. - l'avenement
How can something be a collectors item + ‘unworthy’ at the same time? Help me out here.
quote:i am not an inch persuaded that the outlawed Biafran pound is anything but that. ….- l'avenement
Are you now talking about our currency being outlawed rather than it not being legal tender? If so, good! You have now unravelled the distinction between the two terms. In addition my brother, the idea is not to 'persuade' you. It is to provide you with facts on the issue. What you do with these facts is entirely up to you. I’d like to believe you can bring yourself to be objective enough to do the right thing with the information you now control.
Monsieur, I did not sign on BNW to cure ignorance and as such will be very brief with you. If the currency is worthless then the government that channels resources towards hounding those who insist on using it is far worse than worthless talk less of serious.
I can just see the US government rounding up Southerners who carry around confederate dollars or even tearing down the Mississipi flag that incorporates the confederate flag. When you folks are done hounding Onitsha lets see what you will do about the Biafran currency circulating in Togo or Gabon.
Posts: 1534 | From: USA | Registered: Mar 2001
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posted
I think those wishing that Biafra to go away, are going to continue to have a migraine headache for a forseeable future. Over 100 years after the US civil war, the Confederated Flag still fly in Southern States. Texas still answer Alamo Republic California still Answer California Republic.
For people like La avenement continue to wish, but Biafra is not going to go away anytime soon. The More Nigeria continue to decay the more life she gives to Biafra. Biafra is not going away and Biafra pound will become keep sake which its value will continue to soar as time progress.
posted
It's not surprising that the Biafran Pound continues on a spontaneous value of 1=2 USD, while the Nigerian Naira roundly depreciate in all facets. After the introduction of a thousand naira note in October, what else can one expect than a million naira note in no distance future. The poor masses will continue to bear the crunches of a clueless State.
EMMA OGU, Owerri and VINCENT ADEKOYE, Benin
SECURITY operatives in Owerri, the Imo State capital, have threatened to arrest and prosecute those trading with the outlawed Biafran currency currently enjoying high patronage in the area at N270 to the pound (Biafra).
But leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike in a swift reaction, said his group cannot be intimidated and declared the currency, legal tender.
His declaration came as a middle-aged man and suspected member of the Edo State chapter of MASSOB yesterday caused a stir in Benin City, the Edo State capital, as he swallowed a Biafra currency note.
Assistant Director of Operations State Security Service (SSS) Mr. Adeola Ajai and the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Isa Bala Mohammed who spoke to Daily Champion on Tuesday stated that the Federal Government had given directives for arrest and prosecution of those introducing the currency.
They, however, stated that no one had been arrested in connection with that yet.
While Ajai claimed that the SSS has monitored the source and method of circulation of the currency, Mohammed declared that those in possession of the notes would be arrested on sight, saying the currency is illegal.
"We have received directives to arrest and prosecute the users of the currency and we are going to look out for them," the SSS boss said.
Meanwhile Chief Uwazuruike, who spoke to Daily Champion on Tuesday, stated that his movement cannot be intimidated by the government and its security into withdrawing the currency.
He insisted that any object in agreement between a buyer and seller for business transaction remains legal tender.
Uwazuruike however, said that MASSOB was not forcing anybody to accept or use the money.
"We cannot be intimidated or deceived. Arrest and prosecution of our activists have become part of the struggle. I mean, they have been arresting harassing and prosecuting us so, it is no longer new to us. People will continue to accept Biafran currency because it is a legal tender," he said.
The MASSOB leader also disclosed that more of the currency will be released into circulation in due course as it is part of MASSOB’s agenda to actualise Biafra.
Similarly, the movement’s director of information, Uchenna Madu who spoke to Daily Champion in another forum, stated that MASSOB is embarking on sensitization visits to the press for acceptability of the currency and its wide circulation.
Madu, however, declined comment on whether the currency in circulation is that of the defunct Biafra era or new ones being minted.
In Edo State, the MASSOB activist, identified as Peter Nweke, according to sources, swallowed a Biafra currency to evade possible arrest by security agents.
Federal Government had placed a ban on the circulation of the defunct Biafra currency and directed security agents to arrest and prosecute persons found with same.
However, some members of MASSOB in Benin have continued to transact business with the currency among themselves.
Edo State is estimated by police sources to have 2,000 active members of the movement and hundreds of followers who are mostly youths.
Yesterday’s incident occurred along the crowded New Benin market, by Upper Mission road bus stop about 11.25 a.m.
The MASSOB member had wanted to buy a pre-used textile material, otherwise called Okirika, from another man on Mission road just opposite the New Benin Market.
An eyewitness said the man brought out his wallet and gently removed two pounds denomination notes of the Biafra currency to pay for the items which cost N450.00.
Report said the colour of the currency attracted the attention of other buyers who requested to see the two pound notes.
Investigation revealed that the okirika seller, suspected to be another MASSOB member, opened up and declared that, "it is our currency, that is why I am accepting it," thereby attracting further attention of the increasing crowd.
"Before five minutes, this place was filled up because some of us have never seen the so-called Biafra currency before.
"Maybe the man selling the clothes was afraid; he quickly returned the two notes to the man, saying that he has no change to give to him because the clothes cost only N450 and the man gave him two pounds.
"As the man was going away, some of us followed him so that he could show us the currency.
"Somebody shouted that we should take him to New Benin Police station. Because of fear, the man took to his heels and as he was running, he squeezed the notes and swallowed them. We were surprised. For him to have swallowed the notes, is not easy.
"After that, he stopped running and when we searched him, there was no other Biafra currency on him. That was why we left him because there was no evidence to take him to police station," one of the buyers around the area, Kelvin Edegbe who witnessed the drama, narrated to Daily Champion.
Further investigation revealed that the banned Biafran currency is being used daily among MASSOB members in the market.
Unconfirmed reports said some denominations of the currency were few weeks ago found inside the offering box in one of the churches located on the same Upper Mission road.
Contacted, spokesman of the state police command, Mr. Peter Ogboi, said the MASSOB members are being investigated.
He reiterated that it is a grave offence to transact any business with the Biafran currency.
It would be recalled that some members of MASSOB were about a year ago arrested in Benin by men of the New Benin police station for organising a sensitisation rally in the Edo State capital.
Also on Tuesday, the police in Awka, the Anambra State capital, paraded a 30-year-old man identified as Sunday Ogbodo for allegedly being in possession of Biafran currency notes.
___________________ He likened the second coming of Christ to the realisation of the Biafran dream, stating that at a time people least expect, the much sought Biafra would be a reality..Rev. Fr. Cornelius Ezeiloaku Posts: 622 | From: santiago, chile | Registered: Jan 2002
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Thanks for providing evidence to corroborate that which I earlier provided.
quote: He insisted that any object in agreement between a buyer and seller for business transaction remains legal tender. - Uwazurike
Yep, you know your monetary economics bruv.
quote: The MASSOB leader also disclosed that more of the currency will be released into circulation in due course as it is part of MASSOB’s agenda to actualise Biafra.
We’ve got your back.
quote:Madu [MASSOB Director of Information], however, declined comment on whether the currency in circulation is that of the defunct Biafra era or new ones being minted.
Yeah, don’t tell ‘em . We know
quote: However, some members of MASSOB in Benin have continued to transact business with the currency among themselves.
Makes economic sense....
quote: Investigation revealed that the okirika seller, suspected to be another MASSOB member, opened up and declared that, "it is our currency , that is why I am accepting it,"
It is indeed nwanne; it is indeed.
quote: Further investigation revealed that the banned Biafran currency is being used daily among MASSOB members in the market.
Things fall apart + the centre cannot hold, mere anarchy is loosed upon the land. Tra la la la la la la la la la la....
quote:Unconfirmed reports said some denominations of the currency were few weeks ago found inside the offering box in one of the churches located on the same Upper Mission road.
A religious slant is always welcome
quote:He [Mr. Peter Ogboi, spokesman of the state police command] reiterated that it is a grave offence to transact any business with the Biafran currency.
Yadi, Yadi, Yada. Go suck on a lemon!
Aside from the border towns, it pleases me no end that our currency is also in wide circulation (+ use) in Anenih’s fiefdom. Next stop, Ogun State!
I’m gonna have a good weekend.
___________________ Free Uwazurike Now!
Now is the winter of our discontent...made glorious summer by this [rising] sun of York. Posts: 325 | From: London | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
The twist to this new development is that all my trips to that dead country, I’ve always had a few Biafran notes that has been with me since way back glued next to my almighty blue. For the nigerian illegals, I mean passport. May be the time is ripe for a cautious approach next time I travel to avoid loosing my hard earned notes to the nigerian airport thieves or are they still called customs? Someone already made the point that, if the Biafran power notes are what the nigerian government would want their efulefu listeners to believe, why then are they loosing sleep over it? One cannot be too sure these days, may I then know if barter trading is unlawful too? Truly, nigeria is a cursed nation.
___________________ BIAFRA: The land of my ancestors now, yesterday and always. So it will be! Posts: 2490 | From: Ala Igbo | Registered: Apr 2004
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quote:I’ve always had a few Biafran notes that has been with me since way back glued next to my almighty blue. - MeBiafran
Nwanne,
I salute your brazenness but jokes aside, you have been taking unnecessary risks. You do not help the cause by ending up in jail at this time. The time to be brazen will soon be upon us and when that day comes I’m sure you’d come through for Nd’Igbo. For now, it is our duty to make it impossible for ndi ilo to quieten our dissenting voices rather than easily play into their hands. I haven’t been on this forum for any considerable period of time but from reading the archives I am of the opinion that your voice helps to further the cause. Consequently, you are of more use to Nd'Igbo ‘outside’ than ‘in’ .
___________________ Free Uwazurike Now!
Now is the winter of our discontent...made glorious summer by this [rising] sun of York. Posts: 325 | From: London | Registered: Jul 2005
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Nwa nne nmadu, thanks for showing some care, I guess the "glued" thing somewhat created the impression that my Biafran notes are literally attached to my passport. No, they're rather in the same passport holder nevertheless, I'll take your advice to mind next time I travel, if I travel. It could also be I was able thus far to get away with it because it was an innocent act, something for old time sake. Another piece of Biafra to hold onto, that’s all. Isn't the nigerian government a sorry accident? Shouldn't something like that be illegal only when passed in exchange for some usually expired merchandise at their airport?
___________________ BIAFRA: The land of my ancestors now, yesterday and always. So it will be! Posts: 2490 | From: Ala Igbo | Registered: Apr 2004
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posted
My brother, it is precisely because of the sorry state of affairs in that country that caution should have its watchful place in our conduct. All these random occurrences perpetrated against Nd’Igbo have an underlying order.
___________________ Free Uwazurike Now!
Now is the winter of our discontent...made glorious summer by this [rising] sun of York. Posts: 325 | From: London | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
Obasanjo and the Biafran Pound By Okwy Okeke
A Legal tender is defined as a currency that cannot be refused in payment of a debt. In Nigeria, the government of the day backs the Naira and Kobo with the force of government in settlement of debts with a promise to redeem same if called upon. The Nigeria Police have been going around harassing a thoroughly humiliated people that the presidency in league with his goons conspired and succeeded in stealing their mandate in the last gubernatorial and presidential election of April 19, 2003 among others.
News headline has been agog with denunciation and denial of federal legislator Uche Onyeaguocha for stating a simple fact that people anywhere can decide to put their faith in any means of exchange, be it in the time tested barter, labour for food, foreign currencies, goods, or whatever. The history of the world is replete with people deciding to put their faith in a form of exchange other than the country's currency, Nigerians have been doing same for several years after the Naira learnt to fall like a drunken giant. Dollars, CFA francs, Pounds, Euros etc are quite readily used as forms of exchanges in Nigeria. The secondary school boy in the hostel trades his meals for other forms of goods and services.
None of these people have demanded the Nigerian government redeem the value of the British Pound, American Dollar, European Euro, CFA Franc, plate of eba and other media of exchange including the Biafran pound, so why the discomfort of the federal government led by a presidency that has been accused by its erstwhile party chairman of complicity in treason and state terrorism that a bunch of people added yet another means of exchange in business transactions it neither aids nor is involved with? Is this a case of anger in the loss of confidence in the state by the people? Would these traders be interested in another currency if they felt comfortable with the way the country is presently constituted? Are coins and currency collectors all over the world not allowed to go about their individual businesses though they have all manner of currencies in their possession? Has anyone reported being coerced into accepting or giving this currency in trade? Is this new reign of terror the collective decision of this government or a cabal that sees shadows because of the atrocities they committed in the guise of keeping the country one?
Had the hapless traders demanded the CBN clear an instrument denominated in said currency, then, the government would have a dog in the fight? Rather, these traders have neither been reported to have demanded the government redeem the currency on demand, give it legal backing nor adjudicate in any dispute arising from trade transactions in this currency, but the government deems it worthwhile to pursue and persecute innocent people while hoodlums take over the country.
The police are yet to tell us that those in possession of this currency that for all the government should care could yet be another bread label, monopoly money, or artifact, failed to pay taxes for transactions it facilitates. The police have not also told us of the arrest of any politician, governor, minister, senator, engineer, professor, teacher, or trader, in possession of the pounds sterling, dollar or other currencies and means of exchange, or are we to believe they are unaware of the open spraying and use of these currencies in parties attended by all and sundry? Is this yet another case of Buhari versus Fela Anikulapo-Kuti? But even the irascible Buhari could claim Fela was in contravention of an existing law by possessing more than the legally permissible limit of foreign currency on him as stated by the law. But which currency could these traders be said to possess? Biafran pounds? Where or who is Biafra? Which government has given this money value?
Expanding this issue to the experience of the United States that this government is wont to points to in argument, are southerners not still flying their confederate flags on their car bumpers and homes? Are Americans not burning flags and effigies as protected by the first amendment as a right of expression? Hasn't study shown that the best way to guard against violent dissent is right to openly express it? Have these traders come close to any of these rights that are so taken for granted by the free world? What have they done to be thrown into jail? Playing soccer, deciding on a means of exchange among themselves, flying a flag, while the vilest of animals that have raped the country, burnt public infrastructure, rigged elections, collected our taxes yet refusing to tar our roads, or provide us with basic security walk around free.
Playing the devil's advocate for the sake of argument, what is/are the fears of Obasanjo over the use of Biafran pounds by some traders? Could it be that they are preparing for the state of Biafra? The question then is how? Would the purchase stinger missiles and armored tanks with this currency in their quest for a sovereign state? Only fools that I suspect populates this government would think so? Would the new government of Biafra in the specter of the actualization of the movement for a sovereign Biafran state automatically decree this carelessly and unregulated printed currency into being as its legal tender? Yet again, only a paranoid idiot haunted by the ghosts of his sins would expect that government to shoot itself in the foot by accepting a currency it does not control as legal tender, or does this government expect stupidity in others because it is simply stupid?
I am yet to come across a sensible argument for harassing and humiliating people in the name of hunting for Biafran pounds, but that Obasanjo would not pass up any opportunity to remind Igbos that he is still alive and kicking, but we know that May would one day have its revenge over November, because the revolution of the solemn wheel of nature has decreed it so. The Obasanjo government has continued to persecute Igbos in many forms and the new ruse of possession of certain currency not considered legal tender has joined this list that includes daring to vote for a rebel-led party in the last election for which immediate justice has been visited by way of burning down a state's meager infrastructure, every dog has its day, but every risen sun eventually sets and no man in history is known to have stopped a people determined and sincere.
The newspapers have continued to report unprintable and unmentionable atrocities committed by hoodlums against churches, travelers, etc. No government official is known to have addressed any group of bus travelers that fell into the hands of these agents of darkness though they pay the Nigerian state for security and right to use the roads, rather, scarce security personnel are senselessly sent after Igbo traders who should be content and grateful the Nigerian state allows them to buy and sell as one of the emperor's minions had thundered for her boss in recent memory.
Is there no sober person out there that can tell this emperor to put on his clothes?
* Okeke lives in Chicago, United States of America
___________________ Biafra is inevitable.Illegitimis nil carborundum. Posts: 761 | From: europe | Registered: Jan 2005
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You beat me to it I was going to post that great article by Mazi Okeke before I saw you already did. What an excellent point he made. To answer the thread; no, Biafran pound is not another 419 instead it is the agitation of the people of Eastern Region for a better society by way of Free and Independent State of Biafra. Is currency trading too a crime punishable by firing squad? Is it ok for the British pounds, American dollars to be a form of legal tender in nigeria whence her constitution stipulated otherwise? I’ve always known that obasanjo is a foolish ape what I missed however was the level of his primitiveness! If no man could usurp the collective will of a people to survive, could an ape succeed?
___________________ BIAFRA: The land of my ancestors now, yesterday and always. So it will be! Posts: 2490 | From: Ala Igbo | Registered: Apr 2004
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IgboBlood, that article was published in the newspapers, I think vanguard or Guardian. Here is one from Punch;
MASSOB expands market for Biafran Pound
John Ameh
The Movement for the Actualisation the Sovereign State of Biafra in its determination to make the Biaran Pound a legal tender has intensified the exchange of the Naira for the currency in major markets in Anambra State.
Investigations by Sunday Punch revealed that the money could now be bought openly at Npkor, Ogidi, New Tyre, New parts and Ngbuka-Obosi; all major markets in the neighbourhood of Onitsha, the commercial capital of the state.
Although the money was said to have been on sale at secret locations at the Onitsha Main Market in the last three months, it was learnt that MASSOB had now decided to make the sales openly there beginning from next week.
In Onitsha, the ever-visible MASSOB adherents solicit support for the money and encourage residents, especially traders to accept the currency as a legal tender.
At the markets mentioned above, various denominations of the currency were exchanged for the naira last week.
It was gathered that MASSOB sold 10 pounds for N2, 700; 5 pounds for N1, 350; 1 pound for N270 and 10 Shillings for N135.
MASSOB's Onitsha Area II Administrator, Mr. Edison Samuel, who confirmed the sales to Sunday Punch, also claimed that so far, many traders had been encouraged to accept the money.
He claimed that in the last two weeks, some members had been able to use the money to buy packet shirts, lanterns and wristwatches in Onitsha, adding that even some Nigerians who came from other parts of the country to trade in Onitsha were accepting the money.
"No arrests, intimidation or harassment will not stop us from actualising Biafra. We are selling the money as a right of the citizens of the Republic of Biafra", Samuel added.
A trader, one Chief Onyema, however, denied the claims, saying that though the money was being hawked in some markets, "I don't think that a lot of people are using it. No doubt, they have been advising us to buy the currency."
The state Police Command also denied knowledge of the open sale of the money, but said that it had asked the Onitsha Area Command to begin immediate investigations into the development.
"We have been seriously monitoring and curtailing the excesses of MASSOB in this state. If anybody is found selling the currency in Onitsha, he will be arrested without delay", the command's spokesman, Mr. Kolapo Shofoluwe, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, told Sunday Punch on Saturday.
He disclosed that one more MASSOB member was arrested on Friday in the state, bringing the number of those arrested in the last two weeks to three.
The first two were picked up in Awka, while allegedly hawking the Biafran currency.
Shofoluwe added that the suspects were assisting the police in investing the source of the money.
He also said that the much-advertised Biafran Day scheduled to hold on Friday could not take place because the police "used intelligence gathering techniques to disrupt it."
MASSOB loyalists, however, faulted the police claim. They said, "Instead, it was we who played on the intelligence of the police.
"We used tactical withdrawal and passed the message of the day around all the same."
It will be recalled that the Federal Government warned recently that it was an offence to sell or solicit support for the Biafran pound at it was not recognised in Nigeria.
SUNDAY PUNCH, August 28, 2005
___________________ Biafra is inevitable.Illegitimis nil carborundum. Posts: 761 | From: europe | Registered: Jan 2005
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___________________ The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves... Posts: 775 | From: Valle del Sol, AZ | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote:Traders accept Biafran pounds in Enugu From Lawrence Njoku, Enugu
MARKETS in Enugu witnessed some heightened excitement yesterday as members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) officially introduced the "Biafran pound" into the coal city, defying efforts by security agents to stop the spread of the currency.
Traders in the markets welcomed the MASSOB men enthusiastically and freely offered their wares in exchange for the "Biafran pound" of all denominations. The traders also provided cover for the currency bearers as they moved from shop to shop in the markets daring security officials to arrest them.
No one or government can stop the will of the grassroots no matter how had they try. I challenge ohanae[ze]fu or its junior partner, the efulefu wic to test their popularities with the people by asking them to sit at home for one day for a particular cause and let’s see how far they can get, how many people would actually listen to them. Even the U.S. these nama herders constantly cite lets its citizens conduct business with any tender of their choice, ex., TOKENS and CHIPS. Would those who use coupons and stuff end up on the firing stake in the U.S. as nigeria wont?
___________________ BIAFRA: The land of my ancestors now, yesterday and always. So it will be! Posts: 2490 | From: Ala Igbo | Registered: Apr 2004
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The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra on Friday inaugurated the Biafran currency at Orie market in Awgwu Local Government Area of Enugu State.
MASSOB also denied reports that its members were behind the recent attacks on census officials in Enugu and Anambra states.
It defied security agencies at the inauguration, which was witnessed by traders and villagers.
The group carried out a similar activity in January at major markets in Enugu during which the traders reportedly exchanged their wares for the ?Biafran? money.
The traders also provided security for the MASSOB members at the occasion, threatening to resist any attempt by security officials to arrest them.
At the Awgwu inauguration, one Biafran pound exchanged for N170, but the high rate did not deter the crowd as two motorcycles, four computers, electrical gadgets and other items and foodstuffs were bought and sold with the illegal currency.
The leader of the MASSOB team, Mr Ike Ekwe, told journalists that the inauguration was part of the group?s efforts to make the Biafran currency an acceptable legal tender among the Igbo.
He added, ?It is part of the steps being taken to realise the overall objectives of the organisation.?
Ike said that the currency being circulated were part of the original stock used in the defunct Biafra.
He added that it was already being used in major cities in the South-East, Lagos and Kano. The leader said the current efforts by security agencies to stop the spread would fail.
On the attacks on census officials, Ekwe denied that MASSOB members were involved. He said much as the organisation might oppose anything that would bring more oppression to the Igbo, it remained a non-violent outfit and had continued to pursue its ideals peacefully.
He said, ?The people who carried out the attacks were certainly not our members. It is easy to judge from what they did that they were hoodlums, petty thieves and armed robbers.
?I am glad that even the police and the National Population Commission have all recognised that MASSOB can never be part or support such criminal activities.?
The Punch, Monday March 27, 2006
___________________ Awo's political idea was based on the assumption that any town beyond Owo was Igbo or Hausa. Awo was not socialised; he was not a good mixer because he did not have the opportunity, which the secondary school offered. ~TOS Benson, Baba Oba of Lagos Posts: 2644 | From: United Kingdom | Registered: Apr 2001
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quote:New age town in U.S. embraces dollar alternativeby Scott Malone Tue Jun 19, 8:07 AM ET
GREAT BARRINGTON, Massachusetts (Reuters) - A walk down Main Street in this New England town calls to mind the pictures of Norman Rockwell, who lived nearby and chronicled small-town American life in the mid-20th Century.
So it is fitting that the artist's face adorns the 50 BerkShares note, one of five denominations in a currency adopted by towns in western Massachusetts to support locally owned businesses over national chains.
"I just love the feel of using a local currency," said Trice Atchison, 43, a teacher who used BerkShares to buy a snack at a cafe in Great Barrington, a town of about 7,400 people. "It keeps the profit within the community."
There are about 844,000 BerkShares in circulation, worth $759,600 at the fixed exchange rate of 1 BerkShare to 90 U.S. cents, according to program organizers. The paper scrip is available in denominations of one, five, 10, 20 and 50.
In their 10 months of circulation, they've become a regular feature of the local economy. Businesses that accept BerkShares treat them interchangeably with dollars: a $1 cup of coffee sells for 1 BerkShare, a 10 percent discount for people paying in BerkShares.
Named for the local Berkshire Hills, BerkShares are accepted in about 280 cafes, coffee shops, grocery stores and other businesses in Great Barrington and neighboring towns, including Stockbridge, the town where Rockwell lived for a quarter century.
"BerkShares are cash, and so people have transferred their cash habits to BerkShares," said Susan Witt, executive director of the E.F. Schumacher Society, a nonprofit group that set up the program. "They might have 50 in their pocket, but not 150. They're buying their lunch, their coffee, a small birthday present."
Great Barrington attracts weekend residents and tourists from the New York area who help to support its wealth of organic farms, yoga studios, cafes and businesses like Allow Yourself to Be, which offers services ranging from massage to "chakra balancing" and Infinite Quest, which sells "past life regression therapy."
LOCAL PRIDE
The BerkShares program is one of about a dozen such efforts in the nation. Local groups in California, Kansas, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Wisconsin run similar ones. One of the oldest is Ithaca Hours, which went into circulation in 1991 in Ithaca, New York.
About $120,000 of that currency circulates in the rural town. Unlike BerkShares, Ithaca Hours cannot officially be freely converted to dollars, though some businesses buy them.
Stephen Burkle, president of the Ithaca Hours program, said the notes are a badge of local pride.
"At the beginning it was very hard to get small businesses to get on board with it," said Burkle, who also owns a music store in Ithaca. "When Ithaca Hours first started, there wasn't a Home Depot in town, there wasn't a Borders, there wasn't a Starbucks. Now that there are, it's a mechanism for small businesses to compete with national chains."
U.S. law prevents states from issuing their own currency but allows private groups to print paper scrip, though not coins, said Lewis Solomon, a professor of law at George Washington University, who studies local currencies.
"As long as you don't turn out quarters and you don't turn out something that looks like the U.S. dollar, it's legal," Solomon said.
FULL CIRCLE
The BerkShares experiment comes as the dollar is losing some of its status on international markets, with governments shifting some reserves into euros, the pound and other investments as the U.S. currency has slid in value.
But the dollar is still the currency that businesses in Great Barrington need to pay most of their bills.
"The promise of this program is for it to be a completed circle," said Matt Rubiner, owner of Rubiner's cheese shop and Rubi's cafe. Some local farmers who supply him accept BerkShares, but he pays most of his bills in dollars.
"The circle isn't quite completed yet in most cases, and someone has to take the hit," Rubiner said, referring to the 10 percent discount. "The person who takes the hit is the merchant, it's me."
Meanwhile, Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc., a western Massachusetts bank that exchanges BerkShares for dollars, is considering BerkShares-denominated checks and debit cards.
"Businesses aren't comfortable walking around with wads of BerkShares to pay for their supplies or their advertising," said Melissa Joyce, a branch officer with the bank, which has 25 branches, six of which exchange BerkShares. "I do hope that we're able to develop the checking account and debit card, because it will make it easier for everyone."
YET IN NIGERIA IT IS CONSIDERED A CRIME PUNISHABLE BY FIRING SQUAD (THEIR MODE OF EXTERMINATION) TO HAVE A BIAFRAN NOTE EVEN AS A SOUVENIR! THE PEOPLE IN AFRICA MUST WAKE UP FROM THEIR PRIMITIVE SLUMBER OR ALLOW TO BE RECOLONIZED AGAIN.
___________________ BIAFRA: The land of my ancestors now, yesterday and always. So it will be! Posts: 2490 | From: Ala Igbo | Registered: Apr 2004
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Try a quarter and a nickel the other coin being the quarter, hello! You asked the question wrongly though this is a very ancient riddle, dude.
“If two coins add up to 30 cents and one is not a nickel what are they?” is more like it.
___________________ BIAFRA: The land of my ancestors now, yesterday and always. So it will be! Posts: 2490 | From: Ala Igbo | Registered: Apr 2004
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