With the controversy over the proposed introduction of Islamic banking still raging, we consider it grossly irresponsible of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi to drag the country into yet another decidedly Islamic organisation.
The controversial CBN boss must have taken his cue from erstwhile military ruler Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida who in 1986 took a similar unilateral decision that constituted an act of impunity to the people of the Federal Republic.
Without the approval of the governing organs of the Federal Military Government, Mr Babangida put together a mission led by a private citizen, the then Sultan of Sokoto, Ibrahim Dasuki, to enlist Nigeria formally into the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (now Organisation of Islamic Cooperation), OIC.
Rubbing salt in the wound, the military honcho of the day set up an obnoxious diversionary 20-member panel to “examine the implications of the country’s full membership of the organisation”.
When Mr Babangida’s deputy, Chief of General Staff Commodore Ubitu Ukiwe, objected to the outrageous back-door move by Mr Babangida, saying he could not recall the matter coming before the Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC), the highest organ of government in the land at the moment, he was in effect shown the way out on account of it.
Mr Babangida was not done. Two years later, he again unilaterally made Nigeria a shareholder in the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), whose “basic condition for membership is that the prospective member country should be a member of the (OIC), pay its contribution to the capital of the Bank and be willing to accept such terms and conditions as may be decided upon by the IsDB Board of Governors.” Both commitments remain unrevoked.
The OIC, headquartered in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is in its own words, “an inter-governmental organization ... which has membership of 57 states spread over four continents. The Organization is the collective voice of the Muslim world and ensuring to safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world.”
According to media reports, Mr Sanusi has gone ahead to pay the sum of about $US5 million to the nascent Islamic body as Nigeria’s contribution to the International Islamic Liquidity Management (IILM) Corporation. His is an act tantamount to burning the bridge back to shore when casting out to sea, declaring, in effect, ‘The die is cast.’
Based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that Islamic body’s mission is: “Enabling a future global Islamic finance industry with greater connectivity, stability and sophistication”.
The corporation, which was established in October 2010 by the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) is endowed with the mandate “to create and issue short-term Shari’ah-compliant financial instruments to facilitate effective cross-border Islamic liquidity management. By creating more liquid Islamic financial markets for institutions offering Islamic financial services (IIFS), IILM aims to enhance cross-border investment flows, international linkages and financial stability.”
We consider it an act of gross impunity for Mr Sanusi to have bypassed the National Assembly – in effect the people – as well as the Presidency to unwarrantedly invest the nation’s US$5Million in a self-advertised Islamic body, thus violating the essential character of the federation. Not to see this development as fundamentally wrong is to be blinded by religious prejudice.
While we concede the fact that Muslims have a right to set up Islamic banks should they so wish, we have to state in the strongest terms that government funds may not be commingled with or put to any religious purpose. What is expected of government is the setting up of guidelines and oversight functions as apply to and other commercial banks, whether through the CBN or some other such body. You should put your money only where your mouth is. Nigerians did NOT have a say in this matter.
What Mr Sanusi has done is unconstitutional and highly illegal. His present action (discounting previous ones) seems to suggest that religious (and other) zealots in positions of authority in Nigeria would not be bothered by the sensibilities of the overall populace and hence do not care if the nation disintegrates along religious and similar fault lines.
With the back-breaking brouhaha over Boko Haram ongoing and tearing at the very fabric of the national polity, Mr Sanusi has foisted yet another unnecessary controversy on the nation. His is an example of callous officialdom. The people simply do not need this peppery addition to their plate to chew ahead of an already ominous 2012.
The rights of non-Muslim Nigerian citizens have been infringed upon by Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s brazen and crass action clearly borne out of his religious persuasion and personal aggrandisement. (“H.E. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Governor Central Bank of Nigeria” is listed as a member of the Governing Board, “the strategy and policy making body of IILM”. His deputy, Dr. Kingsley Moghalu, is a member of the body’s Board Executive Committee.)
The share of non-Muslim members of the Nigerian commonwealth has been “invested” in an Islamic Corporation though they are not Muslim and had been guaranteed freedom of religion by the Constitution.
Mr Sanusi, however, seems to be unrelenting as he appears to be a law unto himself. According to him, his plan is for Nigeria to sell its first Shariah-compliant bonds within 18 months as sub-Saharan Africa’s second-largest economy. He is reported to have boasted that his aim is for Nigeria to become “a hub of Islamic finance”.
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