As the negotiations between the Federal Government and organised labour entered its second week, the new petrol pump price has taken its toll on Nigerians for real. Commuters pay almost thrice their previous transport fares as prices of food commodities dance to the new beat.
Perceived to be the voice of working-age citizens, the Nigerian Labour Congress decided it was time to wield perhaps its strongest weapon: a nationwide strike. As it did in 2012 when the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan tried to discontinue petroleum subsidy, labour argued that the Federal Government had not given the most vulnerable Nigerians a soft landing before forcing them to take the big leap.
So, on Wednesday, May 31, the FG convened a meeting with the NLC and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa. In the past, meetings like these were often held at the labour office or on neutral grounds, say hotel conference rooms and the like. This time, however, the FG was pulling off an old trick on the negotiation table; securing a home advantage.
A 2011 study by Brown and Baer examined how location in negotiation potentially favours the resident party over the visitor. The study showed that residents of a space outperform the visiting party in a distributive negotiation. The findings also suggest that the performance discrepancy between residents and visitors may be linked to “a resident advantage (residents outperforming a neutral party) and a visitor disadvantage (visitors performing worse than a neutral party).”
Though understandable, holding the FG-Labour negotiations in Aso Rock had consequences for its journalists who must remain for as long as the closed-door meetings lasted. The stakes climb higher when such meetings stretch far into the night. Under former President Jonathan, some afternoon talks lasted until 4 am the next day, as journalists would wait to report the outcome to the expectant public.
So, at nearly midnight on Monday, June 5, when the NLC cancelled its planned nationwide strike, the meetings lasted for over six hours. I stood in the briefing room with other journalists that night as the newly-appointed Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, read out the resolutions.
I was relieved, for three reasons. First, the country had averted a disastrous strike. Second, the parties had agreed to discuss several sustainable mechanisms to manage the exit of petrol subsidy, especially raising the minimum wage. Third, I won’t spend the night waiting in suspense for some folks arguing over tea next door.
Aso wall of fame
Anyone entering the main chambers of the Villa for the first time will spot the “notice boards” bearing several pictures of the President. In former President Muhammadu Buhari’s days, these photos were updated regularly to reflect his most recent activities.
However, on the day he handed over power, the only surviving pictures of him were those taken with the new President. All the others were unpinned and stacked somewhere, waiting to be archived. But where were the new ones?
I was walking into the Villa on Tuesday morning when I saw a few people gather in front of one of those “notice boards.” It brought back memories of what we called “judgment day” back on campus; the day results for the previous semester are released. Usually, one student races to the class screaming “An manna!” a Hausa term loosely translating to “They have pasted it!”. Everyone rushes to the notice board, running their fingers across its length and tracing their matriculation number and matching it to their grades, GPA, CGPA and carryovers, if any. Some students leave excited. Others leave complaining. But a few storm away with bloodshot eyes, as though the system has “cheated” them.
But at the Villa, we read different kind of results. They are A4-sized landscape photos of the President’s meetings and engagements in the past few days. You could see President Tinubu waving from the Mercedes Benz open-air carriage as he rode around Eagle Square on May 29. There’s another photo with service chiefs when he met the General Security Appraisal Committee on Thursday, June 1. I also saw the shots he took with state governors from his party, the All Progressives Congress and lots more. There are also spontaneous photos of the President as he arrived for meetings or addressed an audience within and outside the Villa. But most of them were about the President’s many visitors.
Tinubu’s many visitors
From lawmakers, and former governors to members of professional bodies, the Villa has been the convergence point for the powerful, all and sundry, since President Tinubu assumed office two weeks ago.
After taking a COVID-19 test and security clearance, Tinubu’s visitors are often ushered into the office area where they wait to see him. Yes, visitors still take COVID-19 tests, for free of course. The state owes the President a duty of care by guaranteeing the health of those he meets behind closed doors.
These visitors are not here to “greet” the president or pose for group photos taken by Nosa Asemota, Tinubu’s personal photographer. They come to communicate their alliance with the new administration and boost their political fortunes.
An unspoken side to entertaining visitors in such a regulated environment is how quickly they may trespass without guidance. Occasionally, some visitors veer into the wrong alleys despite the luminescent signs in the corridors. However, not only do newbies make these mistakes, even old hands trespass too.
One prominent incident was when a former Niger Delta Minister, Godswill Akpabio, tried to follow his friend, Vice President Kashim Shettima, into a passageway meant for vice presidents. Of course, he was redirected to take another route and the VP could not intervene. As it appears, not even the VP can override the instructions of his security detail. Perhaps, he understands that they are only doing their work and he must not teach them how to do it. Whatever the case, President Tinubu and his visitors share something in common for now: they all live outside the Aso Rock Villa.
