Biafra Meaning; What the Currency or Money Look like -

Meaning of Biafra; What the Currency or Money Look like.

The 3 best meanings of Biafra are:

“Bia-fra = Come and Take”,
“Bia-fra = Come and Live”
“Bia-fra = Bia Fragment” which means the fragment of a tribe.

Biafra Nation which existed between 30 May 1967 to 15 January 1960 is known as the land of the rising Sun. Let’s take a look at the Biafra meaning; what the Currency or Money Look like.

Biafra is a Nation. It is the popular word currently on many people’s lips. But, there is the possibility that half the people who agitate for the Biafran nation do not know the meaning of the word.

Have you thought about the meaning of Biafra, or are you just making use of the name without knowing how and why it was coined? In this post, we shall look at the true meaning and the definition of the word Biafra. We shall also see what the currencies all the money look like.

I have carefully made thorough research to know what the World’s words experts know and think about the word Biafra. One thing common in all their definitions and submissions is that Biafra is a secessionist Country that existed for about 3 years. According to definitions.net:

“Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a secessionist state in south-eastern Nigeria that existed from 30 May 1967 to 15 January 1970, taking its name from the Bight of Biafra. The inhabitants were mostly the Igbo people who led the secession due to economic, ethnic, cultural, and religious tensions among the various peoples of Nigeria.”

Biafra Meaning; What the Currency or Money Look like

Meaning of Biafra

Two Igbo words are coined to form Biafra which are: Bia and Fra or Bia and Fara. Bia has only one meaning in the central Igbo language.

What comes to your mind whenever you hear; WAZOBIA? It is an acronym used to represent the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria which are: Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo, respectively. “Wa” is the Yoruba language that means come. “Zo” in Hausa also means come likewise “Bia” for Igbo.

It is the same Bia we are talking about in Biafra. So, the first word that begins Biafra is “COME”, that is ‘Bia’.

However, coming to the second part of the word, it appears to be a controversy regarding the true meaning. According to Urbandictionary, “the word Biafra is coined from two IGBO WORDS ‘bia’ which means COME and ‘fara’ which means LIVE.

Other definitions of Biafra true meaning put it thus:

“Biafra.. according to our Igbo dialect.. Bia means Come Fara means take. Therefore, I come to the conclusion that Biafra means come and take”. By iroegbufrancis500 on March 22, 2020.

“Etymology: Biafra is derived from two Igbo words ‘bia’(come) and ‘fra’(take). It is a word commonly used by the Igbo tribe in the West African subregion which they were later identified with”. by JUOparagon on May 30, 2020.

Meaning of Biafra; What the Currency or Money Look like

Meanwhile, before these expert opinions on the true meaning of Biafra, there was a controversial opinion that says Biafra is not Igbo. They also went ahead to prove that the name Biafra is not an Igbo word.

But that is not why we are here. Why will some groups of core Igbo men come together to agitate for what is not originally theirs? Saying that Biafra is not an Igbo coined word is a fallasy.

Personally, I don’t concur with the submission. Biafrans are people of the eastern part of Nigeria mostly Igbos. I also disagree with the second part of Bia- Fra definition and meaning of Biafra that says: “Come and live”.

To start with, I am from the Igbo tribe. I studied Igbo both in my Secondary school and higher institution. But I am yet to come across the Igbo word ” Fara” or “Fra” and it is explained as “live”. If it actually exists, then, it is not an Igbo word. Or, it exists as ‘olu ndi’ (mother tongue).

Bia- Fara in my local dialect is used to intimidate a person who is coming to take what does not belong to him or her. When a child who is too demanding asks you for a particular thing in a commanding manner, we can simply say; ‘bia fara nu!” Meaning, come and take it, let me see.

On the second note, I am of the opinion that since Biafra is an Igbo Nation. I mean, it is a country mostly dominated by the Igbo-speaking people, the initiator of the name could mean “Bia- Fragment”. That is to say. the country is a fragment of the “Bia” people in Nigeria.

I may not actually be wrong here since the initiator of Biafra secession, the late Col. Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu was a core Igbo man. Again, 90 percent of people agitating for Biafra Independent are Igbos. So, giving the name, “Bia-Fra” could be a way of saying they are a fragment of ‘Bia’ ethnic. (This is a personal view, anyway.)

Meaning of Biafra; What the Currency or Money Look like

Biafra Currency or Money

During the Biafra-Nigeria civil war and secession, there was already a recognized medium of exchange among the Biafrans. Pounds of different denominations were minted and circulated by the warlords. The money or currency became a legal tender and was spent during the war.

Land of the Rising Sun was chosen for Biafra’s national anthem, and the state was formally recognized by Gabon, Haiti, Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania, and Zambia. It suffices to say that Biafran currency was used as means of trade in these countries.