In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent the Merciful'Your wealth and your children are only a trial (fitnah). And Allah - With Him is a great reward (Paradise).' Q 64: 15UNFORTUNATELY, dear Brethren, human status in the contemporary world is usually determined not by things money cannot buy, but by things money can buy, by how much we have as deposits in banks, by the number of shares we have bought in multinational companies, by the number of houses we have built in choice locations all around the world. Such is the measurement of value and status in our world today.We compete among ourselves over the number of children we have. Nowadays in Nigeria, it does not matter anymore how much we have in our bank accounts particularly when they are denominated in naira. What matters today in this country is how much we have in our domiciliary accounts. Today humanity is busy building castles that will not last; we appear forever lost in the wilderness of greed, lack of contentment and profanity.Brethren, one evidence to show that we are headed for the wrong direction; an evidence to buttress the assertion that the pursuit of what money can buy should not be our priority, is the way our currency has become the subject of politics, derision and subterfuge particularly in the corridors of power. Or how else do we make sense of the constant pull and push between the naira and other constant currency' Whenever the dollar appears to be weak in relation to other currencies, the American government is usually quick to intervene to shore up its image. Whenever the naira slips against the dollar, those whose task it is to protect it would quickly intervene to push it to the abyss of inferiority and nothingness.Brethren, here a disclaimer is germane: I do not belong to the field of numismatics; I am completely ignorant of econometrics. But one thing I know is that money, just like my teacher told me many years ago in school, is useless. No matter the amount written on any bill, it is, by itself, useless in the absence of materials or service that it can command; you cannot turn wads of money in your wallet to food.I equally know this about money: that some people - call them bankers, money regulators, government agencies- usually determine, using some 'practical' and mythical indices as guide, what value the money in my possession should command. I remember in 1993 that my first allowance as a graduate doing national service in the extremely bustling city of Onitsha was N3, 500. I equally remember that what I usually took back to Lagos to my mother at the end of each month was worth more than today's N30, 000!!!Brethren, just before our leader left this world, he was said to have asked Angel Jibril whether he would still have cause to visit the earth. Jibril (upon him be peace) said yes! He said he would be visiting terrestrial earth to remove a number of items. One is the removal of blessings from money, in recompense for the iniquitous means through which it is amassed. He said yes! That he would be coming to remove modesty from women and their men as reward for their descent into spiritual perversity'Thus dear brethren, unlike before when N1.00 was equivalent to three Saudi Riyals, today, N50 is equal to one Saudi riyal. Brethren, unlike before when N1 was equivalent to 10 Malaysian Ringit, today, our currency is weak against that of the Asian country at least 40 times. The other day a colleague needed to travel out of this country. He was surprised when he was told one American dollar is now equal to N160! I said to him: 'That means 164 Nigerians are equal to one American!Affirming my ignorance in front of the 'learned' colleague in economics, I sought to know what is responsible for the comatose status of the naira. He was quick to say that it is because Nigeria is a consumer country. My country goes to the market all of the time to buy products manufactured outside the country, never as a supplier of finished products. I needed no other evidence when I looked around the office and discovered that almost everything in my place of work was tokunbo. The toothpick was made in China, the photocopier was manufactured in Japan, and the furniture was made in Shangai!But just before I threw in the towel I asked him: What about the oil that we export' He looked me straight in the eyes and said: 'That is not enough to increase the power of our currency.' Yet I refused to succumb. I asked again: 'If indeed the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of a country determines how strong its currency is, why is it that international business transactions continue to be denominated in American dollar' Why is it that the Chinese Yen remains inferior to the dollar even though the Asian giant is responsible for almost all products in the world today' Why must we continue to devalue the naira as the first policy decision in this season of 'econometricks''The above questions, if as such they must be described, come to the fore sequel to the recent announcement by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to introduce the N5000 note. The CBN has taken that decision because, according to its representative, the political elite now transacts business in dollars! Brethren, does it stand to reason that just because some privileged Nigerians have decided to commit social hara-kiri through their capricious descent into the abyss of greed, the CBN, whose mandate is the protection of the Nigerian currency, should collude with the enemies of the nation and deal the currency a death knell'For the 'unlearned' like me, the proposed introduction of the N5000 note further touches on my identity as a Nigerian. One, if the decision means an indirect devaluation of our currency, it would, in effect, translate to the 'devaluation' of my personhood each time I venture out of this country. Second, one feels as if Nigeria is on the road to Kinshasa where its currencies were denominated in tens of thousands of Zimbabwean shillings. Third, the argument that some coins would be introduced into circulation as a stop-gap measure is puerile because the ones they introduced a couple of years ago are no more in the market!One anonymous saying goes thus: 'If you want to feel rich, just count the number of things you have that money can't buy.'I close with the following speech from Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (r.a), which he addressed to the governors in charge of the Muslim provinces centuries ago: 'Allah has made us His Viceroys over His creatures in order to provide food for them, to preserve their honour, and to provide jobs for them. If we accomplish such things for them, we deserve their gratitude and thankfulness. These hands have been created in order to work; but if they do not find a (decent) work of obedience, they seek (evil) works of disobedience. Therefore, get them involved in (decent) works of obedience before they get you involved in their (evil) works of disobedience.'(guardianfridayworship@gmail.com)
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