The Islamic Finance Industry and Grand Potential for Growth in the Contemporary Economy: Arousal for Dual Finances in Nigeria

Abstract

The paper focuses on evaluating and comparing the justification of Islamic and conventional modes of finance in Nigeria. This study also intends to inspire the adoption of alternative ethical finance to harness its benefits in Nigeria. The acclaimed one hundred billion Sukuk bond launched by the Federal Government of Nigeria is just one of the critical plus Nigeria as a nation can benefit from Islamic finance. A structured questionnaire was distributed to the respondents in the Bauchi metropolis; thereby, the convenience sampling technique was used. Results were analyzed with Chisquare employed to test the hypothesis at a confidence level of 95% (0.05), that is, confidence and significance level, respectively. This study believed that Nigerians are quick to concern about their state of the economy. Therefore it’s suggested that there is an urgent need for everyone including the students of business and finance, the product developers for the emerging industry and banking personnel to have proper knowledge of the principles of Islamic finance vis-a-vis conventional finance about the essential requirements of different modes of finance and how they can be applied to various operations and services of banks and financial institutions in the dual economy. This paper further recommended that, when Islamic finance is properly instituted and practice as alternative ethical finance in the country, and more people apply for it, Nigeria economy would stand to be rejuvenated, boosted and made to be robust, embracing the Islamic financial system will present the best way the country’s economy can witness rapid improvement.