As controversy over Islamic banking continues, the new president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Professor Francis Ojaide, has said the only way to address the controversy associated with Islamic banking is to change its nomenclature.

Professor Ojaide, who stated this in an interview with newsmen in Jos at a reception organised for him by Jos District Society of ICAN, said Nigerians were religious people and cherished their religions, adding that this gave credence to the raging controversy and debate on the Islamic banking.

According to him, the only way to diffuse the tension and the controversy would be for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to de-emphasise religious connotation and make it non-interest banking system.

“I was invited by the CBN governor to attend the international conference on the non-interest (Islamic banking). I told some of my colleagues that the problem was the word Islamic. Immediately you remove the word Islamic, everything becomes neutral.

“If it is non-interest banking, nobody will raise objection. This country is too religiously sensitive. When you talk of Christians, they are very sensitive and when you talk of Muslims, they are also very sensitive.

“We need to downplay the use of religious names in whatever we are doing. The non-interest banking is an alternative option to banking. It is unlike the commercial where you pay loan and you start paying interest. No, you should be part of the profit sharing of the bank and that is why it is called non-interest banking,” he said.

Profssor Ojaide pledged to uplift the profession to the height where it would be emulated by other similar professional bodies in the country.

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