There has been alot of controversy and arguments on the proposed Islamic banking in Nigeria. I recently decided to research this issue and i came up with quite some shocking discoveries.

Does anyone know that even the Saudi Arabian Central Bank that supposed to be the most sharia compliant in the world pays and recieves interest rates on its currency and on bond trades and even fixes interest rates for other Saudi banks?!

The Alahli,(The biggest bank in Saudi Arabia) that has branches in the holiest cities of Mecca and Medina charges 22.8% on its credit cards. In the UK the average rate is 15.5%.

Why then is Sanusi so eager and bent on promoting Islamic banking in Nigeria? He and other supporters of his cause i.e Chief Lateef Adegbite claim this mode of banking would be of assistance to the poor, let us not forget so soon what happened in the year 2000 when some northern states were about to adopt sharia, they packaged it as an antidote to corruption and guarantor of crime-free existence. It is now 11years since then, has that happened?

Are Nigerian Islamic banks more holier than those in Saudi Arabia? Why must we always be hypocrites? Islamic banking has its advantages agreed, but the motive of its proponents is suspicious to me, what has Sanusi and other Nigerian muslims done to help the plight of the poor in thier respective regions?
Are there no other forms of banking(non interest or low interest) that can be beneficial to all Nigerians irrespective of thier religions? Must it be given a religious undertone?

Believe it or not Sanusi and co have a hidden agenda which is not guite clear to Nigerians now, but notwithstanding we must be vigilant and watch as events unfold.