If you are against what this gentleman in CBN is doing you are a religion bigot. Some people are talking of two issues while some three
1. Conventional banking system

2. Non-interest financial institutions

3. Islamic banking system

A NIFI is not necessarily an Islamic banking system while Islamic banking system is basically NIFI. An islamic banking system has to be shariah compliance without which it ceases to be one. Who will run this system if not those who are knowledgeable about its working mechanism. Had it been Sanusi chose to call this a Herbalist banking system which must be herbalist compliance, no one will talk. The name Islam/Muslim is what is given the bigots heart attack.

If you are not comfortable with why Islam should have a system of banking, request for a system to be started according to what you believe in. Nothing bad in having a Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Sango, etc banking system. Sit down and formulate the financial principles as entrenched in your faith instead of playing bigotry. At least, we are in democracy.

Besides, Sanusi is only implementing what his predecessor who happened to be a Christian planned. And for those of you who are calling for his resignation, that wont cure your headaches and hatreds. If he doesn't, someone else is coming to finish what he has started.

hercules07:

@ekt

Why is it that it is in banking that religion should not be introduced, why not education, is education not regulated by government, are the institutions not even asking for bailout from government,

In what way is religion legislated into schools in Nigeria? Can you elaborate?

I hope you are aware that in the days of Ibru and Akingbola, they used to hold morning devotion at work?

Right, but there is no law associated with that. And I assume that they did this before work hours, not while officially on the job. If they did it during work hours (except for lunch break), that was wrong.

As I said, I am not that religious, but, if adherents of a religion decide that that is the way they want to go and the laws are not being broken, they can go right ahead, it does not infringe on my rights.

People are entitled to do whatever they like so long as it is kept a private matter. Once they start using the government to legislate/implement religious policies, then that crosses the ling.

Yes to interest-free banking, no to Islamic/Sharia banking. You can make the interest-free banking essentially indistinguishable from Sharia banking, if you like. But the governing body controlling the rules for interest-banking must be entirely secular in nature.

GEJ can not sack Sanusi, it is the House that has the power, the thing that I like about Sanusi is that he is not afraid to resign or be sacked. We complain about non implementation of policies, Sanusi is implementing CBN policies we are up in arms.

All the better. It is time for him to go.

Some people's blood pressure just rises whenever they hear the word "Islam".

THE GUY IS MURDER FUK , HE SHOULD GO AND PRACTICE THIS IN HIS VILLAGE,

Christian universities abound all over the country and part of their rules is attendance of Christian ceremonies, I am all for religions playing a charitable role in our lives, having interest free banks run by Islamic groups is a good thing, whether they call it Shariah, or Talmud or whatever, it does not matter, the bottom line is they are providing services, you are a yoruba man, we are known for our tolerance of beliefs and culture, you need to find time to be in tune with ur origin, what works in the west might not necessarily work here, we need to be flexible in our ways of doing things. The Red Cross, Red Crescent, missionary schools have all played a good role in our lives, let me tell you a short story, mount olivet high in Oyo state a baptist school was taken over by the state government, after a couple of years, the state government wanted to build a mosque in the school as there was a church there, it was the old students of the school who happened to be muslims that kicked against it insisting that the school had a tradition of being a baptist school and should continue to be so, we should be more concerned of the benefits of that we can derive from this system rather than looking at the name, afterall God and the devil have been known to come to agreements on certain issues.
As per Sanusi leaving, I am sure the guy is fed up with the government of the day, he must be tired of having his monetary policies messed up by a government that is not fiscally aware.

ekt_bear:

In what way is religion legislated into schools in Nigeria? Can you elaborate?
Right, but there is no law associated with that. And I assume that they did this before work hours, not while officially on the job. If they did it during work hours (except for lunch break), that was wrong.

People are entitled to do whatever they like so long as it is kept a private matter. [/b]Once they start using the government to legislate/implement religious policies, then that crosses the ling.

Yes to interest-free banking, no to Islamic/Sharia banking. You can make the interest-free banking essentially indistinguishable from Sharia banking, if you like. But the governing body controlling the rules for interest-banking must be entirely secular in nature.
All the better. It is time for him to go.

My friend, sit down, read and comprehend! Now @bolded, Muslims (I am one) are entitled to have their banking system, but what you fail to understand is that even that "[b]private matter" as you put it becomes the business of the Central Bank once keeping people's money safe is involved (banking). It does not end there, funds accumulated by this means are to be invested in enterprise and we also have funds that will be transferred from places like Dubai and Saudi Arabia. You are suggesting because of your BIGOTRY AND EMPTY PRIDE that the CBN which is the chief financial regulator not be involved. Meanwhile, these transactions will have a major impact on the general economy and the pockets of every single Nigerian. Aren't you just brilliant?

By the way, there are millions of Christians who are eager to get interest-free loans from those sharia-compliant banks that you hate so much, go figure.

The CBN is just catching-up with what people have been working-on for close to a decade, read this http://www.jaizinternationalplc.com/agmpublication.htm

N.B: Without these new regulations, this bank already exists as a registered company. Answer this: Do you want it to operate without proper regulation (sharia-compliance) or would you like it to operate with proper regulation? Mind you, secular banking laws as you put them, do not govern the operations of this bank.

Bandit C.:


Sorry but i have to say that your write up is the biggest pile of c.rap i have ever read. Is it really so difficult to get it in your head that Nigeria is a secular state and that in no circumstance should anything religious define the runnings of the government affairs. Religion does not belong in government!!! get it? Nigeria is not Britain, so desist from comparing UK to Nigeria. Since muslims in the UK are measly 3 million in population, they pose absolutely no threat to the UK since they can easily be crushed should they attempt any islamic revolution, so allowing them to operate small scale islamic banking would mean little and also gives them the impression that they are welcomed in the UK.

Nigeria on the other hand has a large islamic population and any penetration of their islamism into the affairs of goverment would be viewed with sceptism and fear of islamic domination would set in since other religion are not getting the same treatment. Thus therefore Nigeria remains a strictly secular state and[b] your silly islamic banking nonsense[/b] has no place in anything fedetral especially CBN. If you want to enact such laws, go to your islamic states and do that and not with laws that affect all Nigerians.

We also know how radical nigerian muslims are and the extent of what they can do is not in doubt and therefore they should be strictly monitored.

Objectivity is a virtue in intellectual discourse, if you dont have the tenacity to read, digest and analyse opposing opinion then you should not bother coming to NL. If my post is crap you should simple walk over it and you need not respond.

For you to say the boldened simply means i cannot engage you in any meaningful debate as it would be a sheer waste of my precious time. Have a good day buddie  

hercules07:

Christian universities abound all over the country and part of their rules is attendance of Christian ceremonies,

Is the government the one mandating what goes on in those schools? No, it is not. Is there a FG Christian University council? Nope. The relationship between the FG and those Christian universities is entirely secular. FG doesn't consult any religious documents/books when interacting with those universities.

you are a yoruba man, we are known for our tolerance of beliefs and culture, you need to find time to be in tune with your origin, what works in the west might not necessarily work here, we need to be flexible in our ways of doing things.

I just think the best way to go is to deemphasize religion in public rather than making it even more important (or worse, putting it in the government.)

It seems to me a better idea to have an entirely secular government that leaves religious matters as a private matter than one which gets involved in religious matters. Religion is mostly a private affair, not a public one.

The Red Cross, Red Crescent, missionary schools have all played a good role in our lives

None of those government-owned or sponsored. Private charities/non-profits.

, let me tell you a short story, mount olivet high in Oyo state a baptist school was taken over by the state government, after a couple of years, the state government wanted to build a mosque in the school as there was a church there, it was the old students of the school who happened to be muslims that kicked against it insisting that the school had a tradition of being a baptist school and should continue to be so, we should be more concerned of the benefits of that we can derive from this system rather than looking at the name, afterall God and the devil have been known to come to agreements on certain issues.

I'm a bit flabbergasted that someone in government thought it was a good idea to spend public funds on building a religious building. It would have been better to convert the church into a general purpose prayer room for both Christians and Muslims to take turns using, or something. Or convert it into a classroom.

It seems wrong to me to spend public funds on religion. What of the atheists or Buddhists in the community? Do you think they'd be happy seeing their money going into building such?

hercules07:

Christian universities abound all over the country and part of their rules is attendance of Christian ceremonies, I am all for religions playing a charitable role in our lives, having interest free banks run by Islamic groups is a good thing, whether they call it Shariah, or Talmud or whatever, it does not matter, the bottom line is they are providing services, you are a yoruba man, we are known for our tolerance of beliefs and culture, you need to find time to be in tune with your origin, what works in the west might not necessarily work here, we need to be flexible in our ways of doing things. The Red Cross, Red Crescent, missionary schools have all played a good role in our lives, let me tell you a short story, mount olivet high in Oyo state a baptist school was taken over by the state government, after a couple of years, the state government wanted to build a mosque in the school as there was a church there, it was the old students of the school who happened to be muslims that kicked against it insisting that the school had a tradition of being a baptist school and should continue to be so, we should be more concerned of the benefits of that we can derive from this system rather than looking at the name, afterall God and the devil have been known to come to agreements on certain issues.
As per Sanusi leaving, I am sure the guy is fed up with the government of the day, he must be tired of having his monetary policies messed up by a government that is not fiscally aware.

There are only two major religions in Nigeria or Africa as a whole. In fact, the practitioners of other faiths are well seen and identified with Islam and Christianity. I am 100% sure none of Islam and Christianity gives support to the practices of conventional banking system. Flip through the pages of Bible and Quran from A to Z, you will see lots of verses kicking against the practices of conventional banking system. These books have many lines where the curses are rained on the system, supporters and sympathizers.

 You now wonder why the attacks and abhorrence, if this is the case. Africans a religiously stuuuupid and naive.  Instead of the religion to serve us, we serve the religion.

ekt_bear:

People are entitled to do whatever they like so long as it is kept a private matter. Once they start using the government to legislate/implement religious policies, then that crosses the ling.

Yes to interest-free banking, no to Islamic/Sharia banking. You can make the interest-free banking essentially indistinguishable from Sharia banking, if you like. But the governing body controlling the rules for interest-banking must be entirely secular in nature.

I agree with you. As a secular state, religion must be separated from State. If Sanusi and his family wants to start interest free sharia banking, they can go ahead and register a bank after meeting all the requirements and not use Govt apparatus to legislate and tell us who is supposed to benefit.
Afterall we have had 'Esusu' banking system in Nigeria for years without any CBN legislation or regulation.

maclatunji:

My friend, sit down, read and comprehend! Now @bolded, Muslims (I am one) are entitled to have their banking system, but what you fail to understand is that even that "private matter" as you put it becomes the business of the Central Bank once keeping people's money safe is involved (banking). It does not end there, funds accumulated by this means are to be invested in enterprise and we also have funds that will be transferred from places like Dubai and Saudi Arabia. You are suggesting because of your BIGOTRY AND EMPTY PRIDE that the CBN which is the chief financial regulator not be involved. Meanwhile, these transactions will have a major impact on the general economy and the pockets of every single Nigerian. Aren't you just brilliant?

By the way, there are millions of Christians who are eager to get interest-free loans from those sharia-compliant banks that you hate so much, go figure.

The CBN is just catching-up with what people have been working-on for close to a decade, read this http://www.jaizinternationalplc.com/agmpublication.htm

N.B: Without these new regulations, this bank already exists as a registered company. Answer this: Do you want it to operate without proper regulation (sharia-compliance) or would you like it to operate with proper regulation? Mind you, secular banking laws as you put them, do not govern the operations of this bank.

Sigh. Stop beating straw men. I'm obviously not arguing against the legislation of these new banks. I'm just saying that the document/book that governs these interest-free banks should NOT be based on any sort of religion. It should be entirely secular in nature.

Now, can you write up the governing framework for this new financial product in such a way that it overlaps 95% with Sharia law, and thus keeps those seeking something close to sharia-compliance happy? Probably so.

But the point (a possibly subtle one) is that the legislation must come from a secular authority (whatever framework the CBN writes up), and not the Koran.

The funny thing about many of you people defending Sanusi and even those persecuting him is that you are just arguing based on sentiments and yet you are on the internet!!!! Whatever you need to back up your point is on the internet, just google it up. I've attended a course on Non-interest banking before and the facilitators were Malaysians, yes the same Malaysia from which Sanusi is taking his prototype of the Non-interest banking from and in Malaysia, there is no such clause like you must be "sharia compliant". If my memory serves me well and I think it does what they advocate in Malaysia and even in UK for the person that mentioned that it is being practiced in the Uk is that you do not use the funds you are getting directly or indirectly for non-sharia compliant business. So I'm sorry to say, If the claim is true that a clause has been inserted that you must be "sharia compliant" to benefit from Non-interest banking in Nigeria, then Sanusi's motives must be called to question.

ekt_bear:

Sigh. Stop beating straw men. I'm obviously not arguing against the legislation of these new banks. I'm just saying that the document/book that governs these interest-free banks should NOT be based on any sort of religion. It should be entirely secular in nature.

Now, can you write up the governing framework for this new financial product in such a way that it overlaps 95% with Sharia law, and thus keeps those seeking something close to sharia-compliance happy? Probably so.

But the point (a possibly subtle one) is that the legislation must come from a secular authority (whatever framework the CBN writes up), and not the Koran.

Well, what you should be asking for is that there should be another set of rules for non-Islamic interest free banking. Just accept you are a bigot and we can make progress from there.

niyooo:

The funny thing about many of you people defending Sanusi and even those persecuting him is that you are just arguing based on sentiments and yet you are on the internet!!!! Whatever you need to back up your point is on the internet, just google it up. I've attended a course on Non-interest banking before and the facilitators were Malaysians, yes the same Malaysia from which Sanusi is taking his prototype of the Non-interest banking from and in Malaysia, there is no such clause like you must be "sharia compliant". If my memory serves me well and I think it does what they advocate in Malaysia and even in UK for the person that mentioned that it is being practiced in the Uk is that you do not use the funds you are getting directly or indirectly for non-sharia compliant business. So I'm sorry to say, If the claim is true that a clause has been inserted that you must be "sharia compliant" to benefit from Non-interest banking in Nigeria, then Sanusi's motives must be called to question.

His motive is obvious, he is trying to create Islamic banks (with no apologies), if you want a Christian bank, work on your framework and present it to the Central Bank. This line of argument is the[i] Kenimani[/i] (Yoruba word) line of argument. We don't have our unique system of banking, but we will not allow you implement yours.

This reminds me of pilgrimage, it is an Islamic injunction for Muslims to go on Hajj. Nigerian Christians because of envy had to force the Federal Government to start sending them to Israel (even if Jesus never asked you to do so- Obasanjo admitted that much), now Catholics (aren't they Christians) want to go to Rome.

niyooo:

The funny thing about many of you people defending Sanusi and even those persecuting him is that you are just arguing based on sentiments and yet you are on the internet!!!! Whatever you need to back up your point is on the internet, just google it up. I've attended a course on Non-interest banking before and the facilitators were Malaysians, yes the same Malaysia from which Sanusi is taking his prototype of the Non-interest banking from and in Malaysia, there is no such clause like you must be "sharia compliant". If my memory serves me well and I think it does what they advocate in Malaysia and even in UK for the person that mentioned that it is being practiced in the Uk is that you do not use the funds you are getting directly or indirectly for non-sharia compliant business. So I'm sorry to say, If the claim is true that a clause has been inserted that you must be "sharia compliant" to benefit from Non-interest banking in Nigeria, then Sanusi's motives must be called to question.

Does it going to have the same effect if the clause goes; , must follow to the letters these guidelines instead of , must be shariah compliant? When the contents are actually drawn fro the Quuran and Hadiths.

@ekt

Apparently you are not in tune with what is happening in Nigeria, the NUC regulates those universities, they provide guidelines that these schools follow, I am sure the NUC has a unit that deals with religious education as some of the seminaries award degrees, infact, the NUC is the CBN of the tertiary educational sector.
Government is not spending money on these banks, they are just regulating them, I am against government spending money on religious grounds, for bailing out private companies, hell, I even believe mosques and churches should be taxed, but, in the case of Sharia banking, I am all for it as it is not going to be funded by the government.

hercules07:

@ekt

Apparently you are not in tune with what is happening in Nigeria, the NUC regulates those universities,

Yes, but does the NUC legislate that Christian universities must follow rules X, Y and Z from the Bible? Or that these Christian universities must follow the same rules all other universities are required to follow?

they provide guidelines that these schools follow, I am sure the NUC has a unit that deals with religious education as some of the seminaries award degrees,  infact, the NUC is the CBN of the tertiary educational sector.

Err, and this unit that deals with religious education will draw its rules from the Bible/Koran  Highly highly doubtful. Probably just has some very generic requirements, none related to specific religious laws. Please show me if I am wrong here.

Government is not spending money on these banks, they are just regulating them, I am against government spending money on religious grounds, for bailing out private companies, hell, I even believe mosques and churches should be taxed, but, in the case of Sharia banking, I am all for it as it is not going to be funded by the government.

And who will pay the salary of this Sharia council?

Sharia compliant? Sharia banking is one thing; a type of banking but Sharia compliant is something I don't know off. I know of Interest free banking which doesn't have to be involved with any religion, neither with any religion. This is just discrimination; let them do away with this man called Sanusi, he's doing too much.

The concept of Non-Interest banking is a concept from Islamic Banking/Finance. The concept is based on principles entrenched in the Islamic law, Sharia. If the concept is diluted, as some people has proposed it will be messed up in this country called Nigeria as we have seen in the past, hence the need to comply with the Sharia Law. Experience from other countries showed that it is a successful Banking Model and that is why it is being accepted the world over.

The concept may have come through Religion, but that is not to say it cannot be adopted in a secular state. If there is any grey area it should be addressed. With that I believe we can move forward. We should look at the message and not the messenger.

maclatunji:

Well, what you should be asking for is that there should be another set of rules for non-Islamic interest free banking. Just accept you are a bigot and we can make progress from there.

Outstanding logic. Well done.

ekt_bear:

Yes, but does the NUC legislate that Christian universities must follow rules X, Y and Z from the Bible? Or that these Christian universities must follow the same rules all other universities are required to follow?
Err, and this unit that deals with religious education will draw its rules from the Bible/Koran  Highly highly doubtful. Probably just has some very generic requirements, none related to specific religious laws. Please show me if I am wrong here.
And who will pay the salary of this Sharia council?

The Federal Government of course, you are fighting a lost battle. The Government already pays Qadis and Grand Qadis, so save yourself heartache, Sharia has come to stay. You may choose not to follow it, but it is here and in your face. Gosh! you are not even in Nigeria or are you?

maclatunji:

This reminds me of pilgrimage, it is an Islamic injunction for Muslims to go on Hajj. Nigerian Christians because of envy had to force the Federal Government to start sending them to Israel (even if Jesus never asked you to do so- Obasanjo admitted that much), now Catholics (aren't they Christians) want to go to Rome.

And this is the mentality that at times makes me wonder.

Why on earth is the government spending money sending ANY religious folk abroad?

If you want to do pilgrimage, why is the government being involved? Rather than your own personal funds, or that of your mosque/church/etc?

I don't think people understand what the role of government should be, in a secular state.

maclatunji:

The Federal Government of course, you are fighting a lost battle. The Government already pays Qadis and Grand Qadis, so save yourself heartache, Sharia has come to stay. You may choose not to follow it, but it is here and in your face. Gosh! you are not even in Nigeria or are you?

Wth is a qadi and grand qadi.

So you mean religious ministers are on government payroll, already?

Lol. When did this become the Islamic Republic of Nigeria?

ekt_bear:

And this is the mentality that at times makes me wonder.

Why on earth is the government spending money sending ANY religious folk abroad?

If you want to do pilgrimage, why is the government being involved? Rather than your own personal funds, or that of your mosque/church/etc?

I don't think people understand what the role of government should be, in a secular state.

I do not think you understand that there is nothing like a truly secular state, you may have an Islamic State, a Jewish State, Covertly Devil-Inspired State or an adulteration of any of these three.

ekt_bear:

Wth is a qadi and grand qadi.

So you mean religious ministers are on government payroll, already?

Lol. When did this become the Islamic Republic of Nigeria?

Make that religious (Muslim Judges) under Islamic Jurisprudence. When did this become the Islamic Republic of Nigeria? It was there in the north before and after the British, only watered-down nowadays.

I'm sorry to say that many of you who are calling for Sanusi's removal, because of his implementation of this globally accepted Islamic Banking instrument,  are simply bigoted, intellectually lazy, ignorant, or all of the above.

It might interest you to note that draft framework Section 9 of the draft regulatory framework released under Professor  Soludo’s CBN provides that: “There shall be an advisory committee on non-interest banking within the CBN to be called the CBN Shariah Council (CSC), which will be outsourced. The CSC shall advise the CBN on Islamic laws and principles for the purposes of regulating non-interest banking business.” Also, the first paragraph of the document describes a non-interest bank as “a bank which transacts banking business, engages in trading, investments and commercial activities, as well as the provision of financial products and services in accordance with the principles and rules of Islamic commercial jurisprudence.”

The CBN under Professor Soludo went further to cite, as the basis for the regulatory framework, the enabling legislation as “Section 28 (1)(b) of the CBN Act 2007 and the following provisions of BOFIA 1991 (as amended): Sections 55(2); 52; 59(1)(a); 32(1); 61; 23(1).”

It is evident that a painstaking effort has been made to offer an insight into the background of Islamic Banking in Nigeria to ensure that it is understood.

Sanusi is simply implementing a framework established by Soludo - a framework for a globally accepted banking model.   Where were you people when Soludo made his announcements and made the draft framework available to the public? awon olodo.

maclatunji:

I do not think you understand that there is nothing like a truly secular state, you may have an Islamic State, a Jewish State, Covertly Devil-Inspired State or an adulteration of any of these three.

Many apologies, I forgot there is The Vatican, a truly Christian State and smallest country in the world. So add Christian State to the list.

@maclatunji: I don't want this discussion to get too abstract yet ("truly secular state." Kindly explain to me why the FG should sponsor any individual for a pilgrimage.

Why is it OK to use public funds for private purposes in this way?

How is this not essentially corruption?

Oh well banks should not worry about interest free banking, they won't be needing it or at least anytime sooner or in the near future. I don't know how many banks will survive without lending with interest rates.

Anyway, I guess it is now becoming clear why certain parts of Nigeria are so backwards.

Can you imagine a government, rather than spending money on education, healthcare, etc, spending its money sending people abroad on expensive trips to the middle east?

Is that really the best use of public funds?

Maybe I should convert to Mormonism, then get the FG to fly me on pilgrimmage to Utah.

Or start my own religion. . Lunarism. Instead of spending cash on healthcare/roads/education, FG should pay for me to take a trip to visit my religion's Holy Land. . . the moon 

ndu_chucks:

I'm sorry to say that many of you who are calling for Sanusi's removal, because of his implementation of this globally accepted Islamic Banking instrument,  are simply bigoted, intellectually lazy, ignorant, or all of the above.

It might interest you to note that draft framework Section 9 of the draft regulatory framework released under Professor  Soludo’s CBN provides that: “There shall be an advisory committee on non-interest banking within the CBN to be called the CBN Shariah Council (CSC), which will be outsourced. The CSC shall advise the CBN on Islamic laws and principles for the purposes of regulating non-interest banking business.” Also, the first paragraph of the document describes a non-interest bank as “a bank which transacts banking business, engages in trading, investments and commercial activities, as well as the provision of financial products and services in accordance with the principles and rules of Islamic commercial jurisprudence.”

The CBN under Professor Soludo went further to cite, as the basis for the regulatory framework, the enabling legislation as “Section 28 (1)(b) of the CBN Act 2007 and the following provisions of BOFIA 1991 (as amended): Sections 55(2); 52; 59(1)(a); 32(1); 61; 23(1).”

It is evident that a painstaking effort has been made to offer an insight into the background of Islamic Banking in Nigeria to ensure that it is understood.

Sanusi is simply implementing a framework established by Soludo - a framework for a globally accepted banking model.   Where were you people when Soludo made his announcements and made the draft framework available to the public? awon olodo.

They were secure in the knowledge that he is a Christian. Muslim, Alfa-looking Sanusi just triggers alarm bells in some of my fellow Nigerians. Even The Vatican which is the greatest Christian establishment in the world take-it or leave-it will not argue against it because they learnt accounting practices from the Arab Muslims.

I no blame una, na the laziness of Muslim leaders in the past that led to this current state of affairs. As the mother of the last Moorish ruler in Spain (Emir Muhammad XII) is reported to have told her son: "Weep as a woman for what you could not defend as a man."

ekt_bear:

@maclatunji: I don't want this discussion to get too abstract yet ("truly secular state." Kindly explain to me why the FG should sponsor any individual for a pilgrimage.

Why is it OK to use public funds for private purposes in this way?

How is this not essentially corruption?

I am a Muslim, not proving to be knowledgeable but has some basic understandings of what my religion dictates. Can somebody please explained and give incontrovertible ample pieces of evidence from Bible, Quran and Hadith why a Nigeria government should use the[b] public fund[/b] in sponsoring people for pilgrimage?

ekt_bear:

@maclatunji: I don't want this discussion to get too abstract yet ("truly secular state." Kindly explain to me why the FG should sponsor any individual for a pilgrimage.

Why is it OK to use public funds for private purposes in this way?

How is this not essentially corruption?

On this one, I can agree with you. It is sad that instead of empowering the people to visit any holy sites they want to visit on their own, the government is giving-out Greek gifts in the name of pilgrimage sponsorship. However, wetin man go do?