Plans to introduce Islamic banking as one of the models of non-interest financial services has touched off intense controversy in religiously divided Nigeria.
The Central Bank of Nigeria two weeks ago published a final set of regulations on non-interest banking, which includes Islamic banking, and cleared in principle two banks to offer the product.
The central bank says the introduction of Islamic banking is part of its drive to propel Nigeria’s economy and promote financial inclusion by introducing alternative products.
“The non-interest regime offers veritable incentives and attractive options for investors,” Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi said on Monday at a conference in Abuja to promote Islamic banking.
“Rapid development and increasing wealth in the Middle East are driving the appetite for assets in the region and other parts of the world. Given the positive market environment and latent opportunity in Nigeria, we anticipate that Nigeria will be seen as an investment destination,” Lamido Sanusi said.
Although plans for setting up Islamic banking have been on the books for years, Christian religious leaders suspect that Lamido Sanusi, himself a Muslim and who took the helm of the bank two years ago, has a hidden agenda.
The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos said efforts to “ensure a speedy take-off of the scheme ... was part of the grand plan to turn Nigeria into an Islamic state.”
“We are against the operation of Islamic banking in Nigeria because we see it as another deliberate move to subjugate Christians in Nigeria. Nigeria is a secular state. We must be very sensitive to the religious beliefs of others,” Olubunmi Okogie said.
“Introducing Islamic banking in Nigeria will further aggravate the culpable religious tension in the country already being hoisted by the radical sect Boko Haram,” the archbishop said in a statement.
However, the bank’s deputy governor, Kingsley Moghalu, was quoted in ThisDay as saying: “There is no agenda; it is simply finance, not about religion.”
Nigeria’s population of 150 million is roughly divided in half between Muslims and Christians.
The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs said criticisms “are uninformed and unobjective and smack of religious intolerance.”
“There is a misunderstanding. Muslims have no hidden agenda. Nigeria cannot be an Islamic state and nobody can declare Nigeria a Christian state,” council secretary-general Abdul Lateef Adegbite said.
With Islamic banking found in more than 75 countries, including predominantly Christian countries such as the US, Britain, Germany and France, as well as African countries like South Africa and Kenya, Nigeria could not afford to be left behind in the multibillion-dollar business, he said.
“Why should Nigeria, the sixth-largest Muslim population in the world, not partake in the benefits of a global financial product,” he asked.
He said the facility would throw up new opportunities for ordinary Nigerians to enjoy access to a “less intimidating banking system that is ethical in its operations, and guaranteed attractive returns on their investments.”
Rights activist Shehu Sani said the controversy over Islamic banking “has to do with the religious polarization of the country ... every issue is interpreted on religion.”
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