A university don has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria to insert security chips on the nation’s currency notes for easy tracking of every naira in circulation.
Prof. Sunday Adewumi made the call on Thursday in a maiden Professorial Inaugural Lecture of the Federal University of Lokoja, tagged: “Algorithms Makes Sense out of Nonsense’’.
The don said that naira notes could be programmed to carry strip of chip containing some vital information that could be used to trace its whereabouts, whenever the need arises.
He said, “It is about time that the CBN implements a solution of this nature, if as a nation we must solve the challenges of corruption and incessant kidnappings in the society.
“We should embed a chip in the naira note as part of its security features, which can help locate the whereabouts of any note, once the number on the note is established.
“Tracking the naira is a task that must be done; monies carried in bullion vans can be tracked without the use of siren, since each note has a number.
“Once that number is known, a single naira note can be tracked the same way technology has been used, to track cars and other objects.”
The university teacher, therefore, urged government to concentrate on how to programme the hardware in order to have effective control over it.
Adewumi said the suggestion can only be achieved through a thorough knowledge of algorithm.
Earlier, Prof. Angela Miri, the vice-chancellor of the university, congratulated Adewumi for the great feat of being the first professor produced by the university.
She said, “Adewumi is a renowned international professor, who has numerous experience in computer science, and has travelled far and wide, with many local and international awards of excellence.”
The lecture was part of the university’s maiden convocation which commenced on Monday with planting of trees.
The main event will hold on Saturday with the presentation of awards and launching of N5 billion endowment fund for the university.
Source: Punch