On 27th August 2020, Nigeria, in conjunction with Bangladesh issued a stamp to commemorate the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheik Mujibar Rahman, known as the father of Bangladesh.
The Nigerian stamps were printed in sheets of 50 by Tacoms International, and features a security silver foil square though not actually a hologram!
The also featured a phosphor overprint, depicting the NIPOST Dove. Though the intensity of the birds makes it look like it was from a Hitchcock film.
The Philatelic Bureau issued a First Day Cover as well
However, as with the commemoration of Mahatma Gandhi the year before, not everything went to plan.
The launch event, in conjunction with the Bangladesh High Commission, was held on the 27th August. This was based in Abuja, and due to the ongoing Covid situation was also shared on line.
There had been quite a lot of publicity, and mention made of Miniature sheets to accompany the release too. However, as the official Gandhi launch, the actual stamps were not ready for the official launch.
To service the First Day Covers, a small supply of stamps that had not yet gone through the final process (where the silver foil is added) were provided.
There were also miniature sheets mentioned in the pre-event press release. These were of a very similar design to the previous year’s Gandhi sheets.
Unfortunately very few if any of these items were then subsequently supplied to the Philatelic bureau. None of the unused stamps, and only a handful of the miniature sheets.
The Philatelic Bureau have been able to provide copies of the FDC with the original stamp, but it still seems to be difficult to acquire a mint version of the stamp.
There have been examples showing up on the auction sites, from a few countries outside of Nigeria, how rare or common these will prove to be, is a question of time. It is quite possible there are stocks left in Nigeria waiting to be released.
But the mystery of what happened to the miniature sheets has yet to be resolved. It was suggested that the Bangladesh High commission commandeered the remaining copies. However it might also be possible that only a minimal amount were produced.
Once again, a modern issue gives rise to another exceptionally scarce item.
UPDATE – FEBRUARY 2023
Since I wrote the original article there have been some developments.
The version of the stamp without the silver foil were made available in a limited number of outlets within Nigeria.
The Miniature sheets, both imperforate and perforate were also later made available by the Philatelic Bureau. However the imperforate version was different from the original one, as it had the wavy flag design as per the perforate version.
Another version of the First Day Cover became available, however this did not have a stamp on it, instead the postmark was applied to the cover which had the stamp design printed on it.
Even more intrigue followed, when another First Day Cover came into circulation. At first I assumed it was a forged cover, because on examination the stamp seemed to be a cutout from a poster or similar. There were non of the phosphor markings previously described. Also the stamp seemed to have perforations printed on a yellow surround.
However the actual perforations seemed to be good quality. Then I noticed the more obvious difference, the date of the First Day cover was 17th August, not the 27th.
This was the original date planned for the release of the stamp. However the release had apparently been delayed due an embarrassing spelling mistake. If you look at the print of the stamp in the bottom left of the cover, the name is spelt BANGADANDHU rather than BANGABANDHU.
There was a publicity leaflet printed for the 17th.
This clearly shows the misspelling. To make matters worse the contents includes 3 spellings of Bangabandhu. See if you can spot all 3 in the image below!
By the time of the formal launch on the 27th August, a new publicity leaflet had been printed, with all the spelling mistakes corrected.
So, what of the stamp itself, which I had originally thought a forgery. My theory is, at short notice the printers must have spotted the spelling mistake on the original stamps, and tried to meet the deadline by printing these versions to affix to the First Day Cover. However, as can be seen the other materials all had the wrong spellings, and so the launch was postponed.
Therefore I think these are official items, not a forgery, printed at short notice, as had been done for the earlier Gandhi issue.
It does make you wonder if ever some of the original stamps, with the spelling mistake will ever come to light, or have they all been destroyed
Such a unique stamp with many varieties both on stamps and day of issues cover.