+ 7 S 0 P O N S O A R P A 7 E E D-1-1 U J-1 0 F J-1-1. With such an interesting attempt at micro printing it would be pleasing to know where the notes were printed, but the printer of each issue is a mystery. One of the barriers to this loose association would have been the different currencies, but Ojukwu did not see this as an insurmountable problem, and his subsequent desire to retain the Nigerian currency for Biafra may be ascribed to his desire to retain a single unit of currency in a confederation of states (which is what he hoped his secession would bring). Steiner, Rolf (1978) The Last Adventurer, Little, Brown and Company, Boston. The community where I bought the pounds is like a street market. Prior to the war, Ojukwu had expressed the desire for a loose association of states which would include the Nigerian regions (as separate states) and its neighbours such as Togo and Dahomey (Benin). The Nigerian Civil War (also known as the Biafran War, Biafran Genocide and the Nigerian-Biafran War) was a civil war in Nigeria fought between the government of Nigeria headed by General Yakubu Gowon and the secessionist state of Biafra led by late Lt. that the sale of notes escalated and it is probable that some of the larger dealers of coins and bank notes offered to take large amounts of the notes. $89.00. Equipment had to be bought quickly, and (of course) had to be paid for. When Col Ojukwu declared Biafra he organized his finance and the money currency in circulation was called Biafra pounds. The machinations of the various political elements caused Nigeria to lurch from one political crisis to another in the early years of nationhood. Manillas are a type of primitive money that were in use in Nigeria for hundreds of years. The discovery and exploitation of large oil and gas reserves have contributed to dramatic economic growth but fluctuating oil prices have produced huge swings in GDP growth in recent years. The known prefixes and the number of notes issued is summarized as follows: 5s. The notes were reported to be on transfer from the Banque Populaire Suisse in Basle to a bank in Ibadan (in Nigeria), but were handed over to the Nigerian government by the Togolese authorities. Another discrepancy in official versions lies in the date of the declaration whereby Nigerian notes were no longer to be legal tender. The common features are the rising sun (now a much smaller representation), the palm tree, the names of the Republic and the Bank, a white disc to the right of the note, and patterns imitating engine work surrounding the note. After the declaration of independence, one of the new Republics first concerns was to establish the infrastructure of the new state. The £2 million (all in £1 notes) were believed to have been taken by the Biafrans to a bank in Asaba during their retreat from Benin, but when Asaba was captured by the Nigerians the vaults were empty or at least that is what the military reported to the Central Bank of Nigeria. The official exchange rate at the beginning of 1968 was one Nigerian pound to one pound three shillings and four pence sterling making the Rothschild offer approximately half its real value.) The prefixes commenced with a letter that was assigned to the denomination, followed by a second letter that cycled through the alphabet from A to Z; although the letters I and O were not used due to their similarity with the numerals one and zero. Cargoes of arms and ammunition bought by Biafra are dumped into the sea during airflight. They are out breeders, an artifact of their conversion to Christianity. In August of that year, just after war had broken out, the Biafrans made a bold assault on the Mid-West region, and meeting little opposition moved to within 120 miles of Lagos. The back of the 5-shilling note is very similar to the first issue, with the picture of the four Ibo girls and the manilla being used in the same manner. Under this decree the functions of the bank were established: The Bank shall carry out all the central banking functions in the Republic including the administration of foreign exchange and the management of the public debt of the Republic.. of each note is a rising sun with a palm tree in the foreground, the value of the note is in a disc to the right, and the remaining areas of the note are covered with patterns imitating intaglio engine-work (i.e. The Bank of Biafra Decree also stated that all property held in the republic by the Central Bank of Nigeria was to be transferred to the Bank of Biafra. By that same decree, Nigeria currency notes will cease to be legal tender in Biafra. Constructed from copper bars they form an incomplete circle (or oval) having lobes at the ends and are often described as bracelets or armlets. The Spirit of Biafra is indomitable and indestructible. However, the first numeral in the serial number for all notes of the second issue is always zero. (Although the refinery, if that is what it is, may well have been the one built by the Biafrans at Uzoakoli following their loss of access to Port Harcourt and the coast.) It is not known what happened to the Biafran currency that was surrendered, but it was almost certainly destroyed. The back of the 1-pound note carries the Biafran coat of arms above a wreath (constructed of two sprigs of unidentified leaves), and a ceremonial spear behind the disc in which the value of the note is held. Because the old Nigerian notes continued to be accepted in certain areas, the value of the old Nigerian currency was not entirely worthle! Le nom Biafra vient du golfe du Biafra situé au sud, sur la côte atlantique, lui-même nommé daprès le nom Biafara de la capitale d'un État resté mystérieux mais localisé par les marins portugais au XVe siècle en retrait de la côte, entre l'ancien royaume du Bénin et le Loango. The second coup was successful, and resulted in northern officers taking control of the country and forming a new government led by General Gowon. The total value of each series printed, based on the numbers extrapolated above, was £50 million for the first issue and £148.5 million for the second issue, making a total of £198.5 million. ether they were brought back to Lagos by Nigerian soldiers, or by speculators in Nigerian currency who may have bought them at a discount from the Biafrans. Biafra Oil Refinery, no fewer than U.S. President Donald Trump has fully supported Biafra Referendum with $200Billion US Dollars to build Biafra oil refinery, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra Mazi Nnamdi Kanu got the message from Trump that the money will be forward to his account during their next meeting in the US. Biafra; News. lines drawn by a geometric lathe). Biafra Referendum must surely come as Nnamdi Knau and all the IPOB members are looking forward to the next meeting with the EU, US, and UN for the Biafra announcement. The 1968 Biafran bank note issue was not only an emergency issue, it also faced the trials and tribulations of the country it was serving many of the notes not making it to Biafra. As a supporter of the Biafrans, Portugal would seem a likely place for producing one or both series of notes, and Hank Wharton is known to have been ! Aside devaluing the naira in March, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) also adopted a unified exchange rate, and pushed the official rate of the naira to N376 to dollar for International Money Transfer Operators rate to banks; N377 to dollar for banks’ dollar sale to CBN and pegged CBN’s dollar sales to … Because of the early support by Portugal and the later connection with Markpress, one could conjecture that the first series was printed in Portugal and the second in Switzerland. The leaders of this movement were close to the Military Governor, and from late 1966 it seems that plans were being put in place for the Eastern Region to secede. We had to arrange and conclude the exercise in a hurry. No matter in what form the notes are found (the remainders are now getting scarce), the notes of Biafra offer an interesting piece of history a piece of African history, and a piece of bank note history. Wharton was subsequently fired and a new supply route established. In addition, the depiction of a single palm tree had been the dominant feature on the bank notes of the West African Currency Board from 1916 to 1951, and gave a visual reminder of the notes of that era. My wife came to me in the morning, ‘Sir, we need N5,000.’ “Naira was powerful then. Another of Whartons planes had been destroyed mysteriously in Bissau (in Portuguese Guinea) shortly before this, and another had been impounded in Athens, leading the Biafrans to believe th! The first Biafran banknote was introduced in 1968 which replaced the Nigerian currency. Keesings Publications Limited Keesings Contemporary Archives Volume No.XVI 1967-1968 London. Comments made in a speech by General Ojukwu in February 1969 (a year after the events), reflect the public despair that was expressed at the Nigerian decree (although Ojukwu himself could not have been surprised): The government has long been aware of the terrible experiences of our people over the issue of currency. The National Political Reform Conference arranged, funded (illegally) and teleguided by Obasanjo himself, is about to wind up, pretending that it has been successful, although the fragmentation of interests along ethnic and regional lines is the most visible outcome--not surprisingly. Beresiner, Yasha & Narbeth, Colin (1973) The Story of Paper Money, David & Charles, Newton Abbot. Within months Biafra was putting his money where his mouth was and running for Mayor in his home town of San Francisco, a city where the hippie dream had been replaced by poverty, bribery, corruption and, following the assassination of then-Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk the previous year, even murder. Two days earlier an aeroplane carrying £7 million of Nigerian currency was seized at Lomé in Togo. (Most types of paper have a high timber pulp content, and are treated with agents which brighten the paper and produce a surface which fluoresces under ultra-violet light. However, yet another estimate stated that £30 million were circulating in Biafra at the point of secession, with further reserves of £40 million being held in the bank vaults of the Central Bank in Enugu and Port Harcourt. While the continued acceptance of old Nigerian notes encouraged the continued activities by smugglers, by January 1969 the old Nigerian Pound had become almost unacceptable on the black market, worth only the merest fraction of its face value. Because many of the officers involved in the coup were Ibos, and because the Premiers of the Eastern and Mid-West Region (who were both Ibos) remained unharmed in the coup, it led many to believe that the coup was promoted by the Ibos. There were of course many stories of enterprising Nigerians who were buying the Biafran holdings in Europe at a discounted rate, and shipping them back to Nigeria where their full value could be obtained. 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