The dirtiness of politics in Nigeria

I read with interest, about the selection of my college lecturer, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, as the Vice-Presi­dential candidate for the APC in the 2015 Nigerian elections.

While I will not make any comment about politics, I was pleased that such a brilliant le­gal mind was making the huge commitment to step forward and be counted as a worker for the Nigeria he hopes to see in his lifetime. However, I was quite taken aback by the speed with which his nomination be­came a religious discourse, and the sheer viciousness of some of the attacks against him, sim­ply because he is a Christian and his Presidential Candidate is a Muslim.

I was recently in a conver­sation with a colleague, where I was questioned as to why, as a practicing and spirit-filled Christian, I decided to certify in and offer Islamic (Non-Interest based) Finance products. What I found most interesting was that he was genuinely confused, and actually almost accusatory, as to how a Christian could be “supporting” Islam.

He then made it clear to me that I was “wasting my time” because no Muslim organiza­tion would even talk to a Chris­tian woman; talk less of doing business with or employing her services. I was so taken aback that I was literally speechless (which for me is a miracle in it­self). That got me thinking, and I decided to tackle the supposed controversy in this column.

So, I have certifications in Islamic (Non Interest based) Finance. Does that make me a heretic? An unbeliever? Misguided? Naïve? All of the above? Not at all! It makes me, in my opinion, a well-rounded, non discriminatory seeker of knowledge.

It also makes me a strong and independent thinker. I have never based my actions or decisions on the approval of anyone, and the only person to whom I believe, I owe a duty of ultimate respect and obedience, is my God. I wasted no time in making this clear to the gentle­man in question, and the con­versation ended very quickly.

My interest in the interest free mode of finance actually stems from my Christianity. Deuter­onomy 23:19 reads “You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother, interest on money, inter­est on food, interest on anything that is lent for interests”. Exodus 22:25 reads “If you lend money to any of my people with you, who is poor, you shall not be like a mon­eylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him”. Prov­erbs 28:8 reads “Whoever multi­plies his wealth by interest and profit gathers it for him who is generous to the poor.” There are multiple verses in the bible that strongly condemn the charging of interest for loans, and instead en­courage joint ventures, with joint ownership and joint risk.

This is exactly what the “Islam­ic” finance products do. The fact that it was developed by a particu­lar religion should not render it abhorrent to everyone else. What we could do, as Christians, is take a hard look at it and determine, if the elements of the products are adaptable to our beliefs, rather than demonizing it just for its name or origin.

The basis of the whole concept of Islamic finance is a simple notion from the Qu’ran. The charging of interest (or “riba” is forbidden. Every single product is developed with that notion in mind. As such, whether it is the Mubaraha (buy and re-sell with installment payments), or the Ijarah (leasing) product being em­ployed in a transaction, the pay­ments are on the object of the fi­nance itself, and not based on the abstract finance note that is the basis of conventional financing.

I don’t understand what hap­pened to the tolerant, inclusive, personal character oriented Ni­geria I grew up in. It is devastat­ing to watch this beautiful giant devolve under the demagoguery of intolerance, distrust, tribalism and greed, all in the name of one religion or the other. My father’s best friend, whose family was a second family to mine, was a strong, practicing Muslim Al­haji.

We grew up considering that we had the best of both worlds. You know how that goes Ileya holidays were spent eating raw meat in abundance at their house while Christmas was spent eating raw meat in abun­dance at our house. My father and his best friend remained devoted to each other for almost sixty years. May they both con­tinue to rest in peace?

Presently, one of my clos­est friends married one of my brother’s closest friends, who are like a brother to me. She is a spirit-filed Christian, he is a faithful Muslim. They have one of the most amazing marriages I know of. The Nigeria I see to­day would be so much better off if we could return to that era, but I wonder if that is just wish­ful thinking.

So, my advice to all the peo­ple that have automatically taken a hard stance against these products is that they actu­ally sit down and educate them­selves about it. Take a class. Do not perish for lack of knowl­edge. You might find what I did, products that have a place in the world today, and can be adapted to any religion’s needs. After all, the injunction against interest charges is pretty much universal in religious texts.

Oh, and anytime that any­one in the Christian religion is ready to follow the biblical in­junctions against the practice of interest charging on finance transactions and start work­ing on faith based non interest products. I will be delighted to bring all of my knowledge to its establishment and implemen­tation. We certainly have the numbers to do it and make as much, if not more of an impact, as Islamic Finance is making.