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Sunday 18 September 2011

Islamic Banking Untimely – Catholic Bishops

  

Catholic bishops have faulted the timing of the introduction of Islamic banking in the country, by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The Bishops’ stand was contained in a communique issued yesterday in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State at the end of the week-long second plenary meeting of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN).
The communique was signed on behalf of the 52 bishops who attended the conference by Arch Bishop Felix Alaba-Job, President of the conference and Bishop Alfred Martins, Secretary of the conference.
“The Islamic banking saga continues to strain nerves, not only for the manner it was introduced, but the timing which coincided with the insurgence of terrorist activities across the nation.
“The issue of non–interest banking which itself might be good against the backdrop of mounting poverty amidst so much wealth, got entangled with tensions of religion”, the clergymen said.
The bishops called on the Federal Government, “the legislature”, CBN and other economic stakeholders to engage in proper dialogue to project the issue in the right perspective.
“The dialogue should seek to eliminate all areas of tension, encourage non-interest banking that opens up the economy and devoid of any divisive religious trappings”, they said.
The conference expressed dismay over the crises in Jos and Maiduguri, and called on the Federal Government and governments of the two states to urgently “nip the trend in the bud”.
“They should identify and deal comprehensively with fundamental issues such as land ownership, pastoralists/farmers relationship, youths restiveness, indigeneship, settler problem and failure to implement previous reports of inquiries”, it said.
The meeting also observed that the recently released United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on Ogoniland had “once again, graphically exposed the inhuman and systematic degradation of the Niger Delta region”.
“We are appalled at the long neglect of responsibilities by the operators which led to the contamination of drinking water, land and wanton destruction of the ecosystem.
“While commiserating with the citizens of the affected areas, we call on government to immediately ensure sustainable supply of potable water to the victims”, the bishops said.
They further urged government to “restructure regulatory agencies to guarantee effective and accountable service delivery”.
The bishops also lent their support to the Nigerian workers’ clamour for the implementation of the new national minimum wage, stressing that the nation had enough resources to pay “fair wages to its citizens.”
The meeting was concluded with a requiem high mass at the St Patrick’s Catholic Church, Kpirikpiri, Abakaliki, which had Gov. Martin Elechi and other top government functionaries in attendance. (NAN)
 
SOURCE: Leadership Newspapers, 18 September 2011. http://www.leadership.ng

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