Reno Omokri, former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, has urged Nigeria to reconsider its workweek structure to better accommodate Muslim worship on Fridays, arguing that the existing system disadvantages the Muslim community.
In a video posted on his verified Facebook page, Omokri noted that Fridays were traditionally observed as a day of rest for Muslims before colonial rule. He pointed out that while Christians enjoy Sundays as work-free, Muslims are still required to work on Fridays despite the day’s religious significance.
Omokri proposed adjusting office hours rather than reducing total work time.
He suggested starting work earlier from Monday through Thursday so that offices could close by midday on Fridays, allowing Muslims to attend Jumu’ah prayers without hurting national productivity.
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“I don’t think it is fair for the Muslim Ummah for us to have Friday as a working day in Nigeria. Originally, before colonialism, it was not like that.
“Now we have Sunday as a non-working day and Friday as a working day. I think that we can achieve a compromise. What we can do is that instead of work beginning on Mondays all the way to Friday at 9am or 8am, we can start work at 7:30am on Mondays to Fridays and then on Friday we close at 12 o’clock.
“So the time we are going to lose on Friday we are going to gain it back from Monday to Thursday. So it is not going to affect our productivity as a country and our GDP. And then the Muslim Ummah can close at 12 noon and go for Solat Jumaat. That way, there would be a more equitable balance of our workday lives in Nigeria,” he said.
Omokri stressed that such a system would respect both Christian and Muslim practices while keeping the country’s economy on track.