Man Shares Old Paper Showing Naira-Dollar Exchange Rate in 1978

The extent of the naira's bastardization over the years was revealed by a 1978 photo depicting the exchange rate between the naira and the dollar.

Obinna Aligwekwe, a Nigerian Facebook user, shared the photo, which caused quite a stir online.

The seemingly ordinary paper in question was a printed piece that informed the public about the 1978 Lagos Tennis Classic singles final.

The event featured a thrilling match between Kjell Johansson and Robin Drysdale, two tennis legends.

The paper listed the grand prize for the 1978 Lagos Tennis Classic as $13,100, a substantial sum at the time. More intriguingly, it also indicated the equivalent value in Nigerian Naira, which was a mere N10,200.

Today, the exchange rate is N1,180 to the $1 at the black market.

Netizens Reactions:

Nkiruka Rosemary Onwueme said; “My dad was a member of the. LAGOS Lawn Tennis Club in the eighties and nineties. They usually play at Ebute Meta.”

Aluwuooxtin said; “The nation Nigeria is caused with insensitive and selfish leadership that is here only to take it back and never to move it forward.”

Kingsley Aneke said; “And Dunlop left the country after recording loses because of ease of doing business and power issues.” 

Abby Abi said; “Let’s not forget to look at what Nigeria was doing differently at that time.”

Chinedu Ikonne said; “Blackman is not fit to run its affairs. Blackman is a waste of creation.”

Echieh Chidiebere Peter said; “Imagine is Dunlop had stayed, continued to support this game and the game grew as it should have. “Imagine. “Just imagine. “Ihe mere anyi.”

Paulinus Ugwuja said; “In civilized countries, things get better with time, but the reverse is the case with Nigeria. 

“We now wish for the good old days.”

Ifeanyi Onwurah said; “1978 before they built Lagos… “There was indeed a country.”