By Giwa SHILE
The Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance (IIBF), Bayero University, Kano has tasked the Federal Government to use Islamic finance “Sukuk” for sustainable economic development in the country.
The IIBF Director, Prof. Binta Jibril, made the call at a one day public lecture on the topic: “The role of Sukuk in Sustainable Development” in Kano on Wednesday.
“Nigeria just recently went out of recession and now the struggle is for the country to raise enough funds to finance its developmental activities.
“From the lecture you can see the enormous benefits that Sukuk has in raising cheap funds for the government that are devoid of interest and that are capable of spreading benefits to all citizens,” she said.
According to her, both the Muslims and non Muslims countries have utilised the ‘Sukuk’ and have benefited immensely from it.
Also speaking at the forum, a renowned Islamic Scholar of Banking and Finance, Prof. Monzer Kahf, said that Sukuk was an alternative to financing government projects.
“Sukuk’ is an old word in Arabic, ‘Shariah basis for earning in finance’ for representation of assets in negotiable securities such as assignment of a contract, prohibition of interest, time value of money and debt.
Kahf said Sukuk was less vulnerable to corruption, adding that there would always be control mechanism to avoid fraud in projects.
According to him, the Sukuk system is already over due in Nigeria.
“We have issued the first and second Sukuk, the third is coming. I expect much more in the next coming five years that Sukuk will be much more accepted by both the Federal and state governments.”
He added that there were possibilities for Sukuk to be accepted more than Bonds.
Kahf explained that bond is money to the government to spend the way it likes, while Sukuk is money meant only for a particular development.
“Sukuk is a kind of self control on the government,” he said.
The lecture was attended by stakeholders including officials from the Security and Exchange Commission and JAIZ Bank as well as students and lecturers.
