Clement Isong assumed leadership of the Central Bank of Nigeria in August 1967, barely weeks after the Nigerian Civil War had begun. He inherited an institution facing a crisis unlike anything it had experienced since beginning operations in 1959. War had disrupted production and transport, petroleum revenues were under pressure, government military expenditure was rising, and Nigeria’s currency itself was becoming part of the struggle over the economic integrity of the federation.
Yet Isong’s eight years at the Central Bank cannot be understood through the Civil War alone. By the time he left office in 1975, Nigeria had moved from the pressures of conflict into a rapidly expanding petroleum economy. During his tenure, the country also abandoned pounds and shillings and introduced the naira and kobo in 1973.
His career therefore connects two very different chapters of Nigerian economic history: the struggle to maintain financial stability during civil war and the challenge of managing a country entering the age of large petroleum revenues.
Clement Isong and His Journey from Eket to Economics
Clement Nyong Isong was born on 20 April 1920 in Eket, in an area that is today part of Akwa Ibom State. His parents were Nathaniel Isonguyo and his wife.
His education took him far beyond his birthplace. Isong attended University College, Ibadan, before studying at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, in the United States. He later attended Harvard University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, where he obtained a doctorate in Economics.
His academic background was followed by university teaching. Isong taught Economics at the University of Ibadan, placing him within the emerging generation of Nigerian economists who were entering universities, public institutions and economic administration during the final years of colonial rule and the early independence period.
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He subsequently joined the Central Bank of Nigeria as Secretary and later became Director of Research. He was also seconded to the International Monetary Fund, where he served as an adviser in the African Department.
By the time he was appointed Governor, Isong’s career had already combined academic economics, central banking, economic research and experience within an international financial institution.
A Central Bank That Predated His Governorship
The Central Bank of Nigeria was already an established institution before Isong became Governor.
Legislation establishing the Bank was enacted in 1958, and the CBN came fully into operation on 1 July 1959. On that same date, it began issuing Nigerian currency notes, replacing the monetary arrangements previously administered by the West African Currency Board.
Isong belonged to an early generation of Nigerian professionals who took increasingly senior responsibility for an institution created during the final phase of British colonial rule.
Aliyu Mai-Bornu became the first indigenous Governor of the Central Bank in July 1963. Isong succeeded him in 1967, becoming the second Nigerian to hold the office.
His appointment came at an extraordinarily difficult moment.
Clement Isong Became CBN Governor After the Civil War Began
The Eastern Region declared the Republic of Biafra on 30 May 1967. Fighting between Federal Nigerian forces and Biafran forces began in early July.
Clement Isong was appointed Governor of the Central Bank in August 1967.
Nigeria had entered the political turmoil of the mid-1960s after several years of significant economic expansion. Real gross domestic product grew at an average annual rate of approximately 4.4 per cent between 1962 and 1965.
Petroleum was becoming increasingly important. Petroleum exports increased fourfold between 1962 and 1965, while manufacturing and agricultural exports also contributed to economic activity.
Political instability beginning in 1966 changed that environment sharply.
Investment weakened, economic confidence suffered and population movements caused disruption in parts of the country. Once war began, the economic effects became even more severe.
War Disrupted Petroleum, Trade and Transport
The attempted secession of the Eastern Region transformed Nigeria’s economic geography.
Port Harcourt had been an important route for moving northern agricultural exports to international markets. The interruption of transport through the East forced greater reliance on other routes, including Lagos.
Railways and road transport faced considerable difficulties. Bridges, roads, rail infrastructure and ports were affected by the conflict, while military requirements placed additional demands on available transport facilities.
Petroleum production was hit particularly hard.
Before the conflict, Nigeria’s petroleum industry had been expanding rapidly. The outbreak of war brought onshore petroleum operations to a dramatic halt in the principal affected areas. Petroleum exports and the government revenues associated with the sector consequently fell sharply.
Palm produce from the East was also badly affected. Transport and marketing networks were disrupted, while production in the war zone declined.
The economic consequences extended to Nigeria’s external finances. Foreign exchange earnings from petroleum and other exports were reduced at the same time that the Federal Government required foreign exchange to pay for military supplies and other essential imports.
The pressure was substantial.
Yet the wartime economy was more complex than a simple story of total national collapse.
Economic Activity Continued Outside the Main War Zone
Production in much of Federal Nigeria continued despite the enormous pressures created by war.
Agriculture remained particularly important. Production outside the principal battle areas proved resilient, while the Federal Government introduced measures intended to control expenditure, raise revenue and protect the external position.
Nigeria’s wartime economic administration involved a broad governmental structure. Isong headed the Central Bank, General Yakubu Gowon led the Federal Military Government, and Chief Obafemi Awolowo served as Federal Commissioner for Finance and Deputy Chairman of the Federal Executive Council.
The Central Bank, the Federal Ministry of Finance and other government institutions each played important roles during the conflict.
Isong’s position placed him at the centre of monetary administration during one of the most demanding periods in Nigeria’s history.
The 1968 Currency Change and the Nigerian Civil War
One of the most striking monetary developments of the Civil War occurred in 1968.
Nigeria had introduced a new series of banknotes in 1965 to reflect the country’s republican status. During the war, the Federal Government replaced those notes as part of its wartime monetary strategy.
The new notes remained denominated in pounds and shillings. Nigeria had not yet adopted the naira.
The significance of the development went beyond the appearance of banknotes. In a civil conflict involving a secessionist territory, control of recognised legal tender and the monetary system had strategic consequences.
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For the Central Bank, currency management had become intertwined with the political and economic struggle over the federation itself.
The currency change became one of the defining monetary measures undertaken during Isong’s wartime governorship.
From Pounds and Shillings to the Naira
Another major transformation followed several years later.
On 1 January 1973, Nigeria changed to a decimal currency system. The pound, shilling and pence system inherited through British colonial rule was replaced by the naira and kobo.
One naira was equivalent to ten shillings under the conversion, while one hundred kobo made one naira.
The first decimal currency included banknotes in denominations of 50 kobo, ₦1, ₦5 and ₦10, alongside new coins.
The change represented an important milestone in Nigeria’s monetary history and occurred while Clement Isong remained Governor of the Central Bank.
It also underlined how dramatically the circumstances of his governorship had changed. Isong had begun his tenure during a civil war while Nigeria still used pounds and shillings. Six years later, he was Governor when the country adopted the naira that remains its national currency.
Clement Isong and the Emerging Oil Economy
The Nigerian Civil War ended in January 1970, but Isong remained at the CBN for another five years.
Those years brought a very different economic challenge.
Petroleum production recovered and expanded, while rising international oil prices greatly increased Nigeria’s petroleum earnings during the early 1970s.
This transition transformed the questions facing economic policymakers.
During the war, major concerns had included declining petroleum receipts, military expenditure, pressure on external reserves and disruption to production. In the early 1970s, Nigeria increasingly had to confront the consequences of rapidly expanding petroleum income and government revenue.
Isong’s tenure therefore bridged scarcity and abundance, conflict and post-war reconstruction, imperial currency and decimal currency.
He retired as Governor of the Central Bank in 1975.
From Central Banking to Cross River Politics
Retirement from the CBN did not end Clement Isong’s public career.
With the return to civilian government during Nigeria’s Second Republic, Isong entered electoral politics. He was elected the first civilian Governor of Cross River State and served from 1979 to 1983.
His governorship added another dimension to a career that had already included teaching, economic research, international financial work and central banking.
In 1982, he received the national honour of Commander of the Federal Republic.
Clement Nyong Isong died on 29 May 2000, aged 80.
His place in Nigeria’s monetary history received lasting public recognition when his portrait, together with that of former CBN Governor Aliyu Mai-Bornu, appeared on the ₦1,000 banknote introduced in October 2005.
Conclusion
Clement Isong occupied the governorship of the Central Bank of Nigeria during eight remarkable years of national transformation.
When he entered office in August 1967, Nigeria was already fighting a civil war. Petroleum production in the main conflict zone was being disrupted, transport networks were under pressure, military spending was increasing and the Federal Government faced serious challenges to its external finances.
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Within a year, the country changed its banknotes as part of its wartime strategy.
By 1973, Nigeria had moved from pounds and shillings to the naira and kobo. Petroleum revenues were also beginning to reshape the scale and character of the national economy.
Isong’s importance lies in this extraordinary intersection of personal career and national history. A Harvard-trained economist who had taught at the University of Ibadan, served within the CBN and worked with the International Monetary Fund became the head of Nigeria’s monetary authority at precisely the moment when currency and central banking acquired unprecedented national importance.
His eight years in office carried Nigeria from civil war into the oil era and from the colonial monetary inheritance of pounds and shillings into the age of the naira.
Author’s Note
Clement Isong’s career demonstrates how public institutions can become especially important during periods of national upheaval. His years at the Central Bank covered war, reconstruction, major currency reform and the emergence of petroleum as a dominant force in Nigeria’s economy. His legacy is the story of a highly trained economist leading a crucial national institution through an exceptional period of political and economic transformation.
References
Central Bank of Nigeria. “Dr Clement Isong.” Official biographical record covering Isong’s birth, education, University of Ibadan teaching career, CBN service, IMF secondment, CBN governorship, Cross River State governorship and death.
Central Bank of Nigeria. “Features of Nigerian Currency.” Historical record of Clement Nyong Isong’s appointment as CBN Governor in August 1967, his 1967 to 1975 tenure and his leadership during the Civil War and oil boom.
Central Bank of Nigeria. “History of CBN.” Institutional history covering the establishment of the Central Bank and commencement of full operations on 1 July 1959.
Central Bank of Nigeria. “1968 Currency Issue.” Historical record of the wartime replacement of the 1965 banknotes.
Central Bank of Nigeria. “History of Nigerian Currency.” Historical account of Nigerian currency administration, including the 1959 CBN issue, the 1968 wartime currency change and the adoption of the naira and kobo in January 1973.
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and International Development Association. Nigeria: Economic Memorandum on the Civil Disturbances, Report No. AF-84a, 18 October 1968.
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and International Development Association. Interim Report on Nigeria’s Economic Position and Prospects, 1969.
Central Bank of Nigeria. “Chief Obafemi Awolowo.” Official biographical record covering Awolowo’s service as Federal Commissioner for Finance and Deputy Chairman of the Federal Executive Council.
