The recent online spectacle of a lady now identified as Samha Inuwa using a 1000 Naira note as one would a disposable tissue to wipe the nose, has come full circle.
For another time, a reckless contempt for our sovereign symbol has continued to fester, reinforcing our national malaise, despite the clear position of the law and aggressive, sustained campaigns to discourage the act.
Section 21 of the CBN Act 2007 criminalizes the soiling, mutilation, and destruction of the Naira. A few big names have been wielded the big stick for this, including Bobrisky and Cubana Chief Priest, among others.
That it is even performed for social media clout makes it more disturbing.
Sadly, Inuwa’s “sport” only represents a pervasive cultural defiance that renders it a laughing matter for some people.
We joke too much in this country. Even with very serious issues like holding our national assets in such low regard that they become props for viral degradation.
The Naira is an emblem of national sovereignty and economic identity. To treat it as toilet tissue is to spit on that identity, telling the world we do not value part of what defines us.
Unfortunately, there would be the common rationalization of pointing to elites who spray Naira at events with perceived impunity, which creates a perverse hierarchy of abuse where the powerful may sometimes evade consequence, while the act itself is normalized at all levels. Regrettably, this normalization erodes the very foundation of the law.
Ultimately, every trampled, stapled, or soiled note is a micro-transaction in the trade of our national dignity.
The campaign to protect the Naira’s integrity cannot be won in courtrooms alone. It must be won in the public sphere, in the culture of our celebrations, and in the collective understanding that to disrespect the Naira is to disrespect the very idea of Nigeria. We must all rise to condemn this impunity when they occur and gradually make it shameful to contemplate, even before the law catches up with the perpetrators.
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