BANKING: A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE

Bishop Wale Oke, VP (West), CAN

"The continued validity of my standpoint can easily be seen from how the issue has taken on a life of its own. It has become a hunchback problem, which touched anyhow, hurts (apology to Ray Ekpu). I say that because now the President does have a problem on his hands. The Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria (SCSN) has been widely reported as declaring that moslems are ready to defend the implementation of the Islamic banking regime “with the last drop of our blood.”

I was saying last time that the furore over the introduction of Islamic Banking into the Nigerian financial system ought to be seen as an opportunity for us Christians to rethink banking as it is currently practiced, and our engagement with it. This redirection of focus was, as I acknowledged, was a result of a dialogue with one of my brethren. 

William Eze had put it this way: “Do you think there is a divine providence prodding the Christian community (assuming the true motive is to empower the poor), which the Christian community has not given adequate attention. Can you look beyond what the normal eyes can’t see?”  I immediately “saw” that God was using him to point us all in the direction we seem resolutely focused on ignoring: that nothing happens by accident; that as spirit beings we must be more concerned about the spiritual dimension of things.

Since then I have begun a rethink of my position on the subject, from a more spiritual standpoint. Yes, it is true that my erstwhile positions remain valid. These, to refresh your memory are: that Islamic banking, which can very simply be described as non-interest, profit/loss sharing and ethical banking, does no harm to the Christian; but that its timing, the manner of its introduction and its violation of the spirit, if not the letters, of our secular system of government, portends instability to the nation, particularly against the background of mutual distrust across the main faith divides

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The continued validity of my standpoint can easily be seen from how the issue has taken on a life of its own. It has become a hunchback problem, which touched anyhow, hurts (apology to Ray Ekpu). I say that because now the President does have a problem on his hands. The Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria (SCSN) has been widely reported as declaring that moslems are ready to defend the implementation of the Islamic banking regime “with the last drop of our blood.”  

The council wasn’t diplomatic about it at all. In a statement read to journalists at the its president, Dr. Ibrahim Datti Ahmad said among other things: “Jaiz bank has come to be and there is nothing they (Christian leaders) can do about it and if we have to go to war on this, we’ll go to war…Let those wearing cassocks stop disturbing our peace. Gentlemen (journalists), being peaceful doesn’t mean we are cowards. We warn them to stop disturbing our peace if they want us to live together in Nigeria. Everybody can go his way; we don’t have to live together. We can’t live under people dictating to us how we should live our lives even within the laws of the country. Whatever they call themselves, whether archbishops, priests or whatever they are, let them stop disturbing our lives. We have had enough; let the government warn them because these abuses are enough. We have been patient but there is a limit to what we can take…

“We’ll meet fire with fire if they make the Jaiz bank impossible. Let them leave us alone. If they want us to live in Nigeria peacefully as we want to do, then let them respect our rights as we concede to them their own rights…They think they can blackmail the government, the CBN or the Muslim ummah to abandon the project. We want to assure them that nothing can stop the Jaiz bank from coming into being because it’s being brought in according to the laws of Nigeria. There is nothing illegal about it. If they have a Christian bank that they want to establish, they have the freedom to bring it to the CBN and if they can prove their case, a Christian bank will be opened. We, the Muslims of this country, are fed up and tired of the vituperations of the CAN (Christian Association of Nigeria). They feel they can dictate to the Muslims, even on how we should live our lives. And we are warning the government not to listen to them because there is a limit to the amount of nonsense we can take. We are the majority in this country, whether the Christians like it or not.”  

On the other hand, the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria is reported to have called for the removal of Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as governor of Central Bank of Nigeria. Media reports quoted Vice-President, South-West zone of the Fellowship, Bishop Francis Wale Oke,as saying that  Sanusi has lost the capacity to regulate the nation’s banking industry…Having become a promoter of a sensitive and volatile issue as the Islamic banking project, we have lost confidence in the CBN boss…The secular status of the country still remains non-negotiable as provided for in the 1999 Constitution. The approach of the CBN governor should be reviewed, especially as he is the governor of an Islamic bank…(and) Islamic clerics threatening fire and brimstone over Sanusi’s banking system should be mindful of the consequences of their unguarded inflammatory utterances.”

Dear reader, please join me to pray God’s wisdom for President Goodluck Jonathan as he tackles all the issues thrown up by the contending forces. And I know God answers prayers.

As we do that, however, let’s also begin to prayerfully take a close look at banking systems and practices and our place in it, as children of God. The financial system, including banking is pivotal to the Babylonian system, and we, as children of God, who are in this world but are not of it, really shouldn’t be bothered about it. But then, we are here, and we are the salt of the earth. So, as I close this first in a serial, I request you to think about this: how has interface with banking practices, as they are today, helped or hurt your assignment for God here? Next time, I am going to tell you the story of an American pastor in a wrestling match with the banking system and its relevance to the subject at hand. Join me.