News
First Nigeria Islamic Bank, Jaiz
to employ only Moslems
There are strong indications that the newly licensed Islamic
Bank, Jaiz, will employ only Moslems, in its on-going
recruitment exercise. In a text message currently in
circulation, the Islamic bank wrote: “As-salami send ur cv to
jobs.jaiz@yahoo.com
for Islamic Banking work. Please send it to other Muslim
brothers and sisters”.
Analysts are of the view that the sms contradicts the earlier
statement by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the apex
regulatory body of the all banks in Nigeria that the Islamic
Bank will not discriminate anybody, irrespective of religious
differences.
Investigations by Watchdogreporters showed that the CBN has not
frowned at the discriminatory approach being introduced by the
Jaiz Bank owners. At CBN seminar for financial correspondents
and editors, currently on in Yola, Adamawa state, one of the
resource persons, Dr. Omar Shaikh, executive board member of
Islamic Finance council, UK advised against selective treatment
in the introduction of the system in Nigeria.
He said that Islamic Banks in other countries were not concerned
about race, colour or religion in their operations, but
interested in ensuring that non-sharia products were not brought
into the banks. Shaikh informed that Islamic finance is a new
industry, in its infancy, which has only come to the fore over
the past five to seven years.
He said: “Industry worth circa $1trillion (Mckinsey) and growing
between 15-20 percent per annum. Islamic finance is a horizontal
niche affecting a number of areas, driven by increasing demand
and petrol and liquidity a number of new Islamic banks and
insurance companies are being established”.
In a paper entitle: “The role of non-interest banking in
National Economic Development”, presented by Mobolaji Hakeem, of
Fountain University, Osogbo, he warned that there are several
issues that have not been resolved for the industry to take-off
smoothly. Among others, he listed such challenges as
inter-banking borrowing and effective regulation.
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