It was another week of victory for Nigeria, courtesy of President Bola Tinubu’s actions and interventions. Though not much of him was seen through the week, much of his actions and deftness could be felt in how he is responding to Nigeria, as its President. The week got started on a note of statutory officiation for him, being the week of the nation’s Independence Anniversary; the President’s duty on such occasions will require him to attend to issues at the heart of Nigeria, at the moment, and probably gift some form of magnanimity to some categories he deems deserving of such act of reasonableness.
Coincidentally, it was also the week virtually all Nigerians dreaded to see, for the fear of an impending nationwide strike, called by the organised Labour, represented by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC). While attempting a scare spell on the government, the Labour had made some threats that the ordinary Nigerian had prayed never saw the light of the day.
When declaring its plan to lead Nigerian workers on a nationwide strike, starting from October 3, the organised Labour had warned “it’s going to be a total shutdown … until government meets the demand of Nigerian workers, and in fact Nigerian masses. The federal government has refused to meaningfully engage and reach agreements with organised labour on critical issues of the consequences of the unfortunate hike in price of petrol, which has unleashed massive suffering on Nigerian workers and masses”.
However, Jagaban will not allow anyone, whoever they are and whatever place they occupy, to threaten the peace and security of his people. So he waited till his address to Nigerians, in commemoration of the Independence Anniversary, to take his aim at the threat that was giving the man on the streets the chills.
He spoke to a lot of issues in his speech, but the one that caught the attention of the people most were his responses to the issues that were to shut the system down in a matter of hours. He did not disappoint, he itemized what his administration had started doing, what it will still do and there in the “goody bag” was the item promising the provisional wage increment.
“I am attuned to the hardships that have come. I have a heart that feels and eyes that see. I wish to explain to you why we must endure this trying moment. Those who sought to perpetuate the fuel subsidy and broken foreign exchange policies are people who would build their family mansion in the middle of a swamp. I am different. I am not a man to erect our national home on a foundation of mud. To endure, our home must be constructed on safe and pleasant ground.
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“There is no joy in seeing the people of this nation shoulder burdens that should have been shed years ago. I wish today’s difficulties did not exist. But we must endure if we are to reach the good side of our future.
“My government is doing all that it can to ease the load. I will now outline the path we are taking to relieve the stress on our families and households.
“We have embarked on several public sector reforms to stabilize the economy, direct fiscal and monetary policy to fight inflation, encourage production, ensure the security of lives and property and lend more support to the poor and the vulnerable.
“Based on our talks with labour, business and other stakeholders, we are introducing a provisional wage increment to enhance the federal minimum wage without causing undue inflation. For the next six months, the average low-grade worker shall receive an additional Twenty-Five Thousand naira per month.
“To ensure better grassroots development, we set up an Infrastructure Support Fund for states to invest in critical areas. States have already received funds to provide relief packages against the impact of rising food and other prices”, he said.
However, these vows and promises did not seem to cut it for the leaders of the organized Labour, the Jagaban had to initiate ‘Step 2’, which involved another round of engagements between government and the Labour. Though you must have caught the idea that the planned strike was stalled because ministers and Labour found rhythm, be informed that it was deeper than that and that President Tinubu took part in the negotiations all the way.
Remember he had offered N25,000 provisional wage increment for those considered as the least paid when he made his broadcast in the morning? Well it was not enough for the Labour. NLC and TUC wanted something higher and paid across cadres. None of the people involved in the interface with Labour leaders could have singlehandedly agreed to give Labour what it wanted. So how did the President get involved? How did the earlier promise get upgraded into what looks like what Labour wanted?
On Sunday, October 1, the Chief of Staff to the President, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, who was leading the consultation for that day, was constantly feeding Baba back. At some point, while the meeting was ongoing, Gbajabiamila came out to make a call, discussed briefly with a Labour leader then moved to a corner to make a call that lasted about two minutes. He returned and went back into the meeting room. He was believed to have called his Boss to feel him in on progress at the meeting and got instructed on how to handle a particular knotty development.
At another point, Gbajabiamila and the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, led ministers, including the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun; the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu; and others to take a moment off from the meeting, went into the President’s part of the State House complex to consult with him on the way forward on some of the demands of Labour. A similar pattern was repeated, though not entirely, the next day and at the end of it all, Jagaban, though not seen on the scene, delivered what was required to dispel the dreadful cloud.
It almost happened, but for one reason or the other, President Tinubu was able to calm the raging storm, which threatened the public’s peace; in case you did not know, many families were already under the weight of the thought of how to prepare for a strike which end was not certain.
Many have expressed various opinions on how the President managed the Labour issue and they have mostly been praises for him. A particular opinion, which did not stop at hailing the President’s deftness in handling the situation, but also offered a second angle, on how he thinks the organized Labour should be handled some other time, was expressed by Mr Bolaji Lawal, a former banker, businessman/analyst.
“President Tinubu, once again, demonstrated his rich prodemocracy credential with his handling of the Labour movement. He showed that he is a listening leader that will listen to all strata of the economy, including groups of people opposed to him. We mustn’t forget that Labour is partisan and its intentions will always be suspicious because it is involved in politics. So it is commendable that the President bent over backwards to engage them. It is a sign of uncommon maturity from an African leader.
“However, we must get the message to the President that he cannot wait for Labour forever and examples abound of leaders, across the globe, taking actions against Labour in the overall interest of the country.
“The most famous of such leaders was Margaret Thatcher who crushed the Unions in Great Britain in the early 80’s. These Unions made British businesses uncompetitive from the 40’s and this affected the country’s economy adversely. All efforts by successive governments to make them see reasons were met with crippling strikes until the ‘Iron Lady’ Margaret Thatcher, fought them to a standstill.
“Even though, Thatcher took flaks for her actions at the time, economic historians agreed within a decade (in the 90’s) that her actions were crucial to Britain’s economic recovery. President Tinubu must understand that if needless distractions from Labour continue, he must act in the overall interest of the country.
“Apart from being partisan and corrupt, solutions proposed by Labour only reinforce its ineptitude and symbolism with the past. Palliatives have never solved any problem in the past and no Nigerian believes palliatives get to the intended recipients, the poor. Neither do salary increments for federal civil servants help the country in any meaningful way because they constitute only a very small percentage of the population.
“It should be noted that this is part of the Labour movement’s ineptitude over the decades. It focuses only on the federal government, whereas there are other employers of labour like the state and local governments and the private sector. Because Nigeria is a democracy with a federal structure, the federal government cannot compel any of the other employees of labour to whatever it agrees with organized Labour. We must ask Labour what it’s really trying to achieve. A Pyrrhic victory!
“It is with all of these in mind that the President must be bold (and he had shown this often) in his quest to fix Nigeria, by asking Labour for time, two to three years, so it’s macroeconomic decisions would have had time to trickle down. Agreeing to ineffective measures like palliatives because of the fear of strikes is not the way to go. Rather, the President must insist he should be given time. That is the way to go”, he said.
Though he was not physically partaking in other events of the week, he was well represented by his number one aide (Vice President Kashim Shettima) and one of such representation was on Thursday at the celebration of the 2023 World Teachers’ Day at the Eagle Square in Abuja. It was Shettima’s voice, but Tinubu’s reassuring promise to teachers that their reward, under his watch, would start from here on earth.
Another week starts today, the fears and anxiety of a strike ended with last week and we hope to see new moves this week. What those moves will be we will need to wait to see.