Date Published: 07/05/11

Chief Imam of the Central Bank of Nigeria (Part II) by Ayo Turton

Like Sani Yerima, the former Zamfara State Governor, like Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the Governor of Central Bank.

Sharia Law has not just been a part of the Nigerian law, it is also constitutionally guaranteed. However when mischief maker like Sani Yerima of Zamfara decided to launch his own “political Sharia” as an instrument of political vendetta and for his own political relevance and upgrade against the then new administration of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo all hell was let loose. What iwas new that Sani Yerima offered to the Nigerian Muslims of Zamfara State that was not already in practice long before he became the Governor of the state?...this is the nature of dishonest projects when launched to fish in trouble waters towards selfish ends. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi in defense of Sani Yerima in his article titled: The Shariah Debate: A Muslim Intervention, wrote inter alia:

“ It is this attribute of injustice, this tendency to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it that will destabilize Nigeria, and not introduction of Shariah. When archbishops hold press conferences and spread unsubstantiated rumors of amputations it is they, not the Zamfara state government, who threaten the peace. Christians should judge shariah by what the shariah is. The historical church is no yardstick for measuring Islam”

He Sanusi apparently saw nothing wrong with the troubling and shenanigans filled re-introduction of Sharia, he took a swipe at the Catholic Church based on the medieval perception and history of the church, the transformation that the church has undergone over the course of several centuries does not count to him.

Mallam Sanusi wrote “It is the paradox of our times that the greatest defenders of the rights of religious minorities and secularism today in Nigeria are the fathers of the Catholic Church. Secularism as an ideology is antithetical to Christian teachings and papal encyclicals. It grew as a reaction to the ignorance and tyranny of the Catholic Church and is a direct product of the revolution called "enlightenment". That a Catholic archbishop should now be the ideologue for secularism is indeed remarkable”

He also took a swipe at the generality of Christians when he wrote inter alia “Christian leaders have continuously asserted that the Shariah will lead to oppression of non – Muslims. Islamic society has never been known to oppress members of other faiths in the manner that the Christian church, for instance, oppressed Jews and those considered as belonging to heterodox sects”…

“ Muslims understand why Christians associate religion with tyranny. That has been the experience with the church. It is also what they read in their own Holy Book, the Bible…”

It should not be a surprise then that Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has chosen Yerima’s model to launch his Shariah banking system in Nigeria.

Like Sharia law, “non-interest banking” (NIB) or “non-interest financial institution” (NIFI) has always been recognized under the Nigerian laws specifically Bank and Other Financial Institutions Act 2004 known as BOFIA. What is not known to the law is an attachment of a particular religion or any religious undertone for that matter to it. When BOFIA was promulgated in 1991 the law already recognizes non-interest banking, as loss and profit sharing bank which under section 66 its interpretation provision simplicita means “a bank which transacts investment or commercial banking business and maintains profit and loss sharing accounts”

Profit and loss sharing or non-interest banking is the major feature of Islamic Banking, that feature is not only known to Shariah practice or Islamic laws, it is has been a part of the Mosaic law in existence since Biblical days as can be found in the Book of Exodus 22:25, Leviticus 25: 35-37, Deut. 23: 19, Psalm 15: 5 , etc among many Nigerian ethnic groups, it is known as esusu, it is done in a form of general contribution which is loaned out among contributors interest-free on rotational basis, in the contemporary financial system it is known as private equity. Therefore anybody or a body of people whose economic practice, religious belief or traditional orientation falls within this provision and is willing to set up a bank based on that could legally apply for a license from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Jaiz International PLC was incorporated in 2003 when Chief Joseph Sanusi was still in charge at CBN long before Mallam Lamido Sanusi. It was incorporated to take the advantage of this provision using the Islamic law model. In 2004 they got approval in principle with a commitment by the CBN to issue them with a license when they are able to raise the required 25 Billion Naira minimum capital requirement which was introduced by Prof. Charles Soludo during his banking reformation. The inability of Jaiz International PLC to raise this capital requirement was the only thing that had stood between them and a license to operate non-interest banking based on Islamic model since 2004, five clear years before Lamido Sanusi. How come nobody was protesting?

On Thursday February 3, 2011 as reported in the Vanguard of Friday 4, 2011, Sanusi climbed to the rooftop to proclaim what can be likened to ‘ O ye faithful Moslems of Nigeria, I Sanusi Lamido Sanusi shall grant unto you Islamic bank in Nigeria soon’ Are you kidding me? Islamic banking as always been permitted under the enabling laws for banking in Nigeria, this is known to the practitioners in the industry and one already got an approval in principle 7 years before…what exactly is Sanusi commencing? Just like the political Shariah, there you have your political Islamic banking introduced and championed for personal aggrandizement of a man with savior mentality. A sitting CBN Governor for that matter.

It is pertinent to mention here that attempts are being made by some to reduce this to Christians protesting an introduction of Islamic banks in Nigeria and that whereas they are available in many countries like Bangladesh, Malaysia, South Africa, Egypt, Pakistan etc and even well known Christians dominated countries like United States and Britain. Nothing could be far from the truth. The question we should ask is why was there no protest when Jaiz International PLC was licensed in 2004? The then CBN Governor was professional about it, simply approved them under the existing laws and did not constitute himself as the champion for Islamic banking. But 7 years after the first would-be Islamic bank has been approved, Mallam Sanusi introduced the guidelines for non-interest banking which read in parts that:

“transactions, instruments and contracts under this type of services are non-permissible if they involve: Interest; uncertainty or ambiguity relating to the subject matter, gambling; speculation; unjust enrichment; exploitation/unfair trade practices; Dealings in pork, alcohol, arms and ammunition, pornography and other transactions, products, goods or services which are not compliant with Islamic rules and principles.” “

CBN under the direction of Mallam Sanusi also define Non-Interest Financial Institution (NIFI) to mean:

“ “a bank or Other Financial Institution (OFI) under the purview of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which transacts banking business, engages in trading, investment and commercial activities as well as the provision of financial products and services in accordance with Shariah principles and rules of Islamic commercial jurisprudence.”

With these guidelines Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is not only deploying the instrumentality of the state to enforce Shariah law, he has singlehandedly while acting like one-man National Assembly and the President disqualified people of other faiths who might want to take the benefit of non-interest banking provision of BOFIA and surreptitiously attempted to legislate Islamic Banking into existence by using guidelines to trump the substantive laws! Is this fraudulent or what?

Sanusi’s guidelines for a provision of law that has no religious coloration was reported to have mentioned Shariah 26 times, he is reported to have proposed CBN Sharia Council, Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions, Islamic Financial Services Board etc. Some reports also had it that he is appointing for himself a Grand Khadi to serve as his adviser on Islamic banking. I believe he forgot to set up same for Obatala worshippers who might be willing to set up their own non-interest financial institutions, with a Babalawo adviser to boot; there you have your Chief Imam of Central Bank of Nigeria.

This is the crux of the matter for some of us. I think it is unreasonable to be against Islamic bank since all it does is to offer Nigerians more options in banking, just like it would have been unreasonable to go against the original Shariah law as entrenched in our constitution since it will only be applicable to Muslims. But like the political Shariah of Yerima that was deployed to abridge the rights of non-Muslims in a country that professes secularism and guarantees the right of every Nigerian to live and practice his faith unmolested. Sanusi’s Shariah banking is designed and deployed to hijack and abridge the rights of other Nigerians to benefit from the non-interest banking provision of BOFIA. I have read people who wrote about the compatibility of these “guidelines” with our Constitution and other laws, to me that is not just the matter, but the right of Mallam Sanusi to constitute himself to a one-man legislature.

The duty of CBN is to license banks under the existing laws, the mode and corporate policy in lending should be left in the hands of the operators with minimal regulation to ensure compliance with the law. If anybody wants strict Islamic Banking institution independent of what is already known to our laws at this point, such person should sponsor a bill to the National Assembly through their representatives. The attempt by Mallam Sanusi to cover up the arrogation of powers to himself by reducing the debate to Christians protesting Islamic Bank, the same way he lambasted Christians for protesting Yerima’s Sharia is to say the least ridiculous.

His hypocrisy stinks to high heavens when he was reported to have recently told Muslims not to join issues with their Christian “brothers” in order not to heat up the polity, I think Sanusi himself heated up the polity with the arrogation of power of life and death over the banking industry to himself and not his audience.

The Central Bank in every country is a conservative establishment. The Governors or by whatever name the man in charge is known they are never heard on political or religious issues. Mallam Lamido Sanusi should quit his grandstanding, quit his playing to the gallery, quit his nose-poking into the messy political terrain and must also operate within the laws of the country. Nigeria’s economy needs healing not noise making.

Ayo Turton is a USA based Lawyer.