Examining Issues and Challenges in Adopting Islamic Work Ethics by IFIs in Nigeria

Islamic work ethics which is an ethical moral conduct of individual will not only create emotional bond between workers and organization but towards society and most significantly to Allah. Besides, it will also contribute to more commitment leading to higher performance and loyalty to the institution. In Nigerian setting, Islamic work ethics is assumed to be influenced by the Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs) who become the apparatus through which employee practice of IWEs is assessed. Presently, there are 16 IFIs who perform their role to enhance their performance through ethical conduct of their employees. Even though each of these IFIs perform their role to ensure the best ethical conduct was practice, there are still issues and challenges faced that lead to the non-adoption of IWEs. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to disclose the issues and challenges faced that lead to role the non-adoption of IWEs by IFIs in Nigeria. A qualitative method is employed in this study using secondary data as well as semi-structured interview on the selected IFIs in the Northern part of Nigeria as a case study. The findings of the study revealed that there are issues and challenges that contribute to the non-adoption of IWEs such as lack of Islamic finance background of most of the practitioners, absence of orientation program and weak supervisory framework. The findings of this study are hoped to contribute to the existing literature on IWEs and its proper practice for enhanced performance of IFIs. Finally, the study's conclusion as well as the direction for future research are provided and discussed.