It would appear that every Nigerian except the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) knew that Nigeria is having serious economic difficulties.

This fore knowledge of the severity of our economic situation is probably the main reason why the federal government is winning this war of wits -or whatever it is- with the NLC.

A careful observation of the statements of this government and the ruling All Progressive Congress will show that the administration has dropped cryptic and not-so-cryptic messages on how deep the problem really is. They have, over time, successfully communicated their intention and the stark reality -albeit subtly and in mixed messages- to Nigerians.

In all honesty, the government did a good job of communicating with Nigerians using all available means. Effectively making citizens accept and prepare for the worst. This, in no small measure, gave them a firmer foothold against the NLC.

On the other hand, the NLC had failed to engage with the citizenry, preferring instead to engage with Nigerians through old fashioned means of communication, instead of spoonfeeding the masses information and propaganda via social media and other platforms.

How the dice was rolled:

First was the scathing statement made by the National Leader of the APC and a former Governor of Lagos state, Bola Tinubu, to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu.

On the surface, the Tinubu’s statement indicted Kachikwu. However, beneath it all, the statement was a whistle blower’s call on how messed up our situation really is.

Tinubu had written: “Even though times are hard, we must all realise that they would be even harder and much darker had we allowed the venal, kleptocracy of the PDP to continue to lord over the land solely for their selfish benefit and not for the common good.”

Then came a series of tweets and press releases from the office of the Vice President just after the subsidy removal was announced.

This is therefore not a subsidy removal issue but a foreign exchange problem, in the face of dwindling earnings.

— Prof Yemi Osinbajo (@ProfOsinbajo) May 13, 2016

I wanted to focus on the cost component largely responsible for the substantial rise, namely foreign exchange.

— Prof Yemi Osinbajo (@ProfOsinbajo) May 13, 2016

As if the tweets didn’t do enough job, the Vice President released a letter to further explain the fuel price increase and subsidy situation. Read The Vice President’s letter to Nigerians HERE.

But before the VP began his explaining, Ibe Kachikwu had hinted at the present economic situation and the reasons for fuel price increase.

And after announcing the fuel price increment, Kachikwu had promptly appeared on national TV to explain further. He even went on to release a shareable video on facebook, infographics on basic information about the situation.

Perhaps Kachikwu’s prompt appearance before the National Assembly assuaged them and ensured they backed up the fuel price increase.

Ready to quell any form of nay saying from trade unions, the Minister of Labour and the Secretary to the State Government had promptly set up meetings with the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and both factions of the NLC, negotiating with each faction -and possibly taking full advantage of the division within the NLC.

The NLC, on its own part, had failed to communicate properly with Nigerians and lay ground works that would have taken advantage of the emotional backlash of the fuel price increment.

For the first time, the NLC is embarking on an industrial action without the support of the TUC and Nigerians -not even a slight majority.