The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has called on the Federal Government to urgently review the country’s wealth distribution framework to reduce poverty and ease the growing hardship among Nigerian workers.
In a statement issued on Monday, September 15, 2025, the group’s Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, decried what it described as the “alarming imbalance” between the meager salaries of the working class and the hefty allowances of political office holders.
MURIC expressed concern over the increasing restlessness across key sectors, noting that university lecturers under the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) are threatening to strike, while resident doctors have already issued notices of industrial action. Nurses, the group added, just returned from a warning strike earlier today.
The organization condemned reports that the Federal Government is considering a pay rise for politicians, describing it as unjustifiable in light of the dire economic conditions facing ordinary Nigerians.
> “Apart from an army of unemployed graduates, the plight of the Nigerian worker is pitiable. The take-home pay of the proletariat cannot take him home. Inflation, which stood at 21.88% in July 2025, has driven market prices into the skies. Hunger and starvation are widespread. The North is bleeding, the South is barely surviving,” the statement read.
MURIC emphasized that equitable redistribution of the nation’s resources was necessary to avert deeper crises. It cited stark disparities such as senators allegedly earning about N21 million monthly, while professors take home only N633,333, a trend the group said has fueled brain drain in universities. According to recent reports, 239 first-class lecturers have resigned from the University of Lagos in the past seven years over poor pay.
The group further highlighted the exodus of medical professionals, revealing that at least 50 doctors leave Nigeria weekly and over 15,000 nurses relocated abroad in 2024 alone.
> “Nigeria’s lawmakers and public office holders are already overpaid, overfed, and overpampered. Their salaries should not be increased. Instead, the wages of workers—who are overworked, overtaxed, and underpaid—should be reviewed upward without delay,” MURIC insisted.
The group urged the government to prioritize economic justice by redirecting national resources to those at the lower rungs of the social ladder, warning that continued neglect of the working class could worsen socio-economic unrest.
#NorthIsBleeding
#RedistributeWealth
#PoliticiansOverpaid
#IncreaseWorkersWages
