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Nigeria has many problems. A shortage of public holidays is not among them. The latest example came when the federal government declared two public holidays for Eid-el-Kabir. Not one day. Two. A few weeks earlier came another nationwide holiday for Workers' Day. Before long there will be more. By the end of the year, Nigeria will once again have spent a remarkable number of working days celebrating itself, its religions, its workers and its historical milestones while wondering why productivity remains stubbornly low. The official justifications are invariably solemn. The government wishes to demonstrate its "profound respect" for the faith of millions of Nigerian Muslims. Citizens are encouraged to pray, reflect and seek divine guidance for national prosperity. Such sentiments are unobjectionable. The assumption that they require the closure of Africa's largest economy is another matter entirely. Nigeria has confused respect for religion with state-sponsored idleness.

 

The first thing to note is that there is nothing in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria requiring Eid-el-Kabir, Eid-el-Fitr, Christmas, Easter or any other religious observance to be designated as federal public holidays. The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion. It does not mandate government-sponsored days off work for religious celebrations. These are political choices, not constitutional obligations. That distinction matters. A secular state demonstrates neutrality by protecting the freedom of citizens to worship, or not worship as they choose. It does not demonstrate neutrality by repeatedly suspending economic activity to accommodate every major religious festival. The right to celebrate a religious holiday and the right to compel an entire nation to stop working are not the same thing. Nigeria's political class rarely acknowledges the cost.

 

Every public holiday represents millions of lost working hours. Government offices close. Courts adjourn. Administrative processes stall. Businesses delay transactions. Ports slow down. Schools suspend instruction. Banks operate on restricted schedules. Economic activity does not disappear entirely, but it is disrupted. One holiday may seem harmless. The cumulative effect of many is not. The irony is particularly rich in a country that routinely laments low productivity, weak competitiveness and sluggish economic growth. Ministers urge citizens to work harder while simultaneously announcing additional days on which they cannot work at all.

 

No serious company seeking to maximize output would behave this way. Yet governments persist because public holidays are among the cheapest forms of political generosity. They cost politicians little while appearing generous to voters. The beneficiaries are not always those whom politicians imagine.

Public holidays are a luxury more easily enjoyed by salaried workers in the formal sector than by the vast informal economy where many Nigerians earn daily incomes. The market trader who closes her stall loses revenue. The transport operator loses fares. The small manufacturer loses production. The civil servant receives a paid day off. The distribution of benefits is less egalitarian than politicians suggest.

Religious holidays are particularly revealing.

 

Nigeria is home to hundreds of ethnic groups and multiple faith traditions. The state cannot possibly place every sacred observance on the national calendar. It therefore privileges certain religious celebrations over others. What begins as inclusion inevitably becomes a political exercise in deciding whose holy days deserve national recognition. A wiser arrangement would separate private observance from public administration. Allow Muslims to celebrate Eid. Allow Christians to celebrate Christmas and Easter. Protect those rights robustly. Permit employees to take religious leave. Encourage flexible workplace arrangements. Let communities celebrate according to their traditions.

 

But why should a Muslim entrepreneur who wishes to keep his factory open be unable to do so because Abuja has decided that everyone must stop work? Why should a Christian-owned business be compelled to close because of a Muslim festival, or vice versa? Why should a secular citizen or atheist be drawn into the same arrangement? Freedom includes the freedom not to participate. Other successful economies have long understood this distinction. They maintain a limited number of national holidays tied to statehood and civic identity while leaving much religious observance to individuals, families and communities. The result is not less religious freedom but more personal choice. Nigeria has instead drifted in the opposite direction.

 

Each year brings fresh declarations, fresh congratulations and fresh appeals for prayerful reflection. Yet the government still cannot explain why a country struggling with inflation, unemployment, low investment and fiscal pressures should continually reduce the number of productive days available to address them. Nor has anyone explained why religious devotion becomes more authentic when endorsed by a government gazette. The defenders of the current system will accuse critics of insensitivity to religion. They miss the point entirely. The argument is not against religion. It is against the assumption that religious observance requires nationwide economic suspension. Faith is strongest when it is voluntary. It requires neither bureaucratic validation nor ministerial proclamation.

 

Nigeria's public-holiday culture reflects a deeper national habit: the preference for symbolism over substance. It is easier to declare a holiday than to improve schools. Easier to issue congratulatory statements than to reform institutions. Easier to close offices for prayer than to make those offices function efficiently when they are open. The country does not suffer from a shortage of ceremonies. It suffers from a shortage of productivity. A government serious about economic growth would ask a simple question before announcing yet another public holiday: Is this celebration important enough to justify shutting down part of the economy? Increasingly, the answer is no. Respect religion. Protect religious freedom. Allow people to celebrate as they wish. But let Nigeria get back to work.

 

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