Many years ago during the regional JETS (junior engineers technicians and scientists) competition, I co-represented Secondary Technical School Ovim at the regional level. The venue was Federal Government College Okigwe. In that program, there was a physics experiment where light had to be passed through objects to create many colors due to repositioning on focal length/refraction index/etc.
The experiment comes handy as I watch the old and new central bank of Nigeria (CBN) Naira notes. A good physics teacher can ask students in secondary schools to design an experiment on how different light sources at different focal lengths can make an old note look like a new Naira note. Indeed, the CBN did really nothing but manipulate colors of the note; no fundamental redesign that would have produced absolute, native and unambiguous distinctive features for color-blind, elderly and non-literate citizens in Nigeria.
CAUTION: if you are collecting the new N500 from anyone, do not do it under a blue waterproof (the one they use to cover some store areas in markets). I project that if you put that note under a natural light incident on a blue waterproof, at 8 inches, the old note may look like a new one (WAEC: you have an idea for alternatives to practical in Physics).
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I support this redesign project but CBN created a big problem here with this color scheme-based redesign. My grade: C
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Comment 1: Another major concern for this new Naira note is when you view them under incandescent bulb. It might be difficult to distinguish between the old and new notes. This might be a concern for those elderly citizens who own corner shops. The CBN should have done better. We could experiment this, let view both old and the new Naira notes under (incandescent and fluorescent bulbs at 19h 00) and note our observations.
Comment 2: More specifically, if you run a boutique shop in Nigeria, please insist that when payment for selected clothes is to be made let it be done outside the shop under sunlight.
Comment 3: I totally agree with this. Not just the colour blind people, other people may still collect the old note without noticing the difference.
No matter the security features the CBN claims this new notes have, they should have made one distinctive feature obvious for all to see. The colour change is not enough.
Another problem I anticipate is, some fraudsters may choose to mix the old notes in a bundle of cash and pay for goods.
Better we do cashless for transactions above what we can examine each note carefully.
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The disappointment stemmed from the choice of words, the CBN told us about ‘redesign’, and that raised expectations. If they had called it ‘colour coding’ or ‘colour editing’, nobody would have expected a substantial change. Painting your old house does not equate to remodelling or reconstruction, it’s that simple.
What ever changes the old note from being a legal tender no matter how small the change may be makes it a redesigned note
This is a bahd! Design.
I was thinking they should have sized down the naira notes, and improving the paper quality or thickness which will give it a more durability, I just can’t see any distinctive difference in both,