BUSINESS Islamic banking has come to stay -Sanusi

Suspended Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, yesterday said Islamic finance has come to stay and described it as the most veritable tool for addressing the development challenges bedeviling the country.

Speaking during the International Conference on Islamic Banking and Finance organised by the International Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance (IIIBF) of the Bayero University Kano, he said there is nothing divisive, subversive or discriminating about the Islamic finance.

He said the outcry that trailed the introduction of the system years back were mischievously manufactured in the typical Nigerian elite game of manipulation of ethnicity and religion to achieve political and economic gains.

“No country that seeks to become an international financial centre can afford to be oblivious of Islamic finance in the modern world, especially in this age of increased inter-connectedness and integration of the global financial system,” he said.

He said as a result of the benefit being reaped from the Islamic finances, countries are rushing to embrace the system and integrate it into their national financial systems.

“In Europe, both the UK and Luxembourg are competing to become the hubs of Islamic finance not only in Europe but the world over; competing to be in the league of Malaysia and the UAE. In Africa, both Kenya and Senegal are competing with Nigeria to be the hubs of Islamic finance in subSaharan Africa,” he said.

In his address, the Vice Chancellor of BUK, Professor Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, said the university would continue to explore areas of partnership with institutions abroad to bridge knowledge gap in Islamic finance in the country.

For his part, the Director of IIIBF, Professor Shehu Usman Aliyu Rano, described the Islamic finance as the fastest growing financial system with about $2m global capital base.

Chairman of the occasion, Niger state governor, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu, said the conference was desirable to allay the fears of Nigerians on the mode of finance.

The governor whose speech was read by the state’s Commissioner of Justice, Barrister Abdullahi Bawa, urged the institute to intensify enlightenment on the system.

“I’m appealing to Nigerians to always take personal interest in what others are doing rather than condemning it. There is no justification for us in the country not to move further in the implementation of this mode of finance for the benefit of all,” he said.